PRESIDENT OFFENDS CIVIL RIGHTS HERO
John Lewis under presidential fire for voicing his opinion
Lewis' Activist Record
1960 | Became one of the original 13 Freedom Riders
1963 | Became chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
1963 | Helped organize the March on Washington and spoke alongside Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial
1965 | Helped lead 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama; "Bloody Sunday"
1970 | Became director of the Voter Education Project
1981 | Elected to the Atlanta City Council
1987 | Elected to Congress
2011 | Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom
2016 | Led a sit-in of 40 House Democrats on the floor of the House of Representatives after the mass shooting in Florida
Works Cited HERE
Shortly before Donald Trump’s inauguration, there was a dispute between Trump and Congressman John Lewis. John Lewis was born in 1940 and grew up battling segregation. He is largely known for being a leader in the Civil Rghts Movement and risked his life to gain these civil rights. In an interview, John Lewis said that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president, and that he would not be attending the inauguration. Trump responded harshly to this on twitter, angering many people. The fact that this whole ordeal occurred just before the Martin Luther King holiday led many people to believe that Trump did not appreciate what the holiday meant to African Americans and that he did not understand what the Civils Rights Movement as a whole meant to them.
Many people saw this situation as a sign of disrespect towards Lewis and that his sacrifices to obtain the rights African- Americans possess now meant nothing. African Americans were insulted, and this only proved to further enhance their uneasy feelings about Trump and his presidency. Trump has had instances of racism in his past, such as not renting out apartments to African Americans when he was managing his dad’s properties. Recently, Trump justified the actions of his supporters when they attacked an African American who was protesting for the Black Lives Matter movement. People are fearful of what the future holds for African Americans and the country itself. We are all left wondering if there will ever be liberty and justice regarding the issue of civil rights.
By: Kaitlyn Mulder
18
