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As John Lewis was honored in Alabama, a state GOP legislator celebrated a KKK leader's birthday
As ceremonies honoring the life of civil rights legend John Lewis began over the weekend in Alabama, one Republican state lawmaker elected to take part in a local celebration of another prominent figure in Southern history: Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate Army general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
On Saturday, state Rep. Will Dismukes (Prattville), who represents a district northwest of Montgomery, participated in an event honoring Forrest’s birthday at a private property near Selma called Fort Dixie. The gathering coincided with the arrival of Lewis’s body in the city where the late Georgia Democrat almost died 55 years ago as he led hundreds of protesters in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as Bloody Sunday.
“Had a great time at Fort Dixie speaking and giving the invocation for Nathan Bedford Forrest annual birthday celebration,” Dismukes, 30, wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend, sharing a photo of himself standing behind a lectern surrounded by several flags of the Confederacy. “Always a great time and some sure enough good eating!!”
Dismukes’s post, which no longer appears on his Facebook page but has been circulated widely online, sparked intense outcry from leaders on both sides of the aisle in Alabama, who panned his decision to commemorate Forrest during a weekend in which many across the state and nationwide were remembering Lewis. The 17-term congressman died earlier this month of pancreatic cancer at age 80.
On Saturday, state Rep. Will Dismukes (Prattville), who represents a district northwest of Montgomery, participated in an event honoring Forrest’s birthday at a private property near Selma called Fort Dixie. The gathering coincided with the arrival of Lewis’s body in the city where the late Georgia Democrat almost died 55 years ago as he led hundreds of protesters in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as Bloody Sunday.
“Had a great time at Fort Dixie speaking and giving the invocation for Nathan Bedford Forrest annual birthday celebration,” Dismukes, 30, wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend, sharing a photo of himself standing behind a lectern surrounded by several flags of the Confederacy. “Always a great time and some sure enough good eating!!”
Dismukes’s post, which no longer appears on his Facebook page but has been circulated widely online, sparked intense outcry from leaders on both sides of the aisle in Alabama, who panned his decision to commemorate Forrest during a weekend in which many across the state and nationwide were remembering Lewis. The 17-term congressman died earlier this month of pancreatic cancer at age 80.
--PayWall--https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/28/alabama-republican-lewis-kkk/?hpid=hp_morning-mix-8-12-rr1_mm-alabama%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans
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