CIVIL RIGHTS TRAIL SYSTEM BILL PASSES HOUSE

 From the first successfully integrated southern school in Clinton to the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, many sites in Tennessee symbolize the struggle to end racial injustice during the civil rights movement. While many people tend to think that key civil rights events only occurred in southern and eastern states, individuals also had to overcome oppression in other parts of our country.

Congressman William “Lacy” Clay, Jr., of Missouri, and I authored the Civil Rights Trail System Act of 2009, which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would begin planning for the United States Civil Rights Trail System and mark historically significant locations related to the struggle for racial equality in the United States and its territories.

This legislation honors all of those who were part of the movement to make sure everyone is treated equally and has the freedom to achieve the American dream. The trail system would serve as a marker for how far our country has come and would remind future generations of all that is necessary for justice and equality to reign down on our land.