Republicans in Tennessee are seeking to rename a portion of ‘Rep. John Lewis Way’ in Nashville after former President Donald Trump.
According to The Tennessean state Representative Paul Sherrell and state Senator Frank Niceley sponsored the bill to change the name of a section of street dedicated to the late civil rights icon to “honor” Trump.
In 2020, the Metro Council changed the name of the street once known as Fifth Avenue to ‘Rep. John Lewis Way’ to honor Lewis who helped led lunch counter sit-ins along the street during the civil rights movement.
The lawmakers’ bill would rename part of the street to President Donald Trump Boulevard. The area that the bill would rename is between Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Boulevard and James Robertson Parkway.
The change would give Tennessee’s legislative office building a President Donald Trump Boulevard address, according to The Tennessean.
Councilwoman Zulfat Suara, a Democratic member of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, slammed the proposal on Twitter, writing: “OMG. I have to take a deep breath so as not to swear! What have this state become! Do some just wake up and propose the next thing that comes to mind. This is not how to govern. This is ridiculous. We are going to fight this.”
State Rep. Justin Jones (D) also criticized the move.
“Tennessee Republicans’ bill to change parts of John Lewis Way to Donald Trump Blvd is about more than a street name. It’s yet another white supremacist attack on Black history,” Jones wrote. “It’s spitting on the grave of our ancestor. It’s memorializing hate. Best believe, we’ll fight back.”
[Image by J. Scott Applewhite / AP ]
Why not find a street named after a Confederate general and change the name to Trump?