Alabama lawmaker celebrated KKK leader as John Lewis was memorialized in same city
A state lawmaker in Alabama posted on social media about attending an event for a former KKK leader on Saturday near Selma while a memorial was being held in the same city for former U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Civil Rights icon.
Now he’s facing push back from both sides of the aisle.
Will Dismukes — a Republican in the Alabama House of Representatives — said he “had a great time at Fort Dixie speaking and giving the invocation for Nathan Beford Forrest annual birthday celebration.” Screenshots of the post were shared on Facebook and Twitter before it was taken down.
Forrest was a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan, according to the History Channel. Alabama Media Group reported Fort Dixie is a piece of privately-owned property near Selma.
A memorial service for Lewis was also held at Bethel AME Church in Selma on Saturday evening, before he was carried by a horse-drawn carriage Sunday morning across Edmund Pettus Bridge. The historic bridge was the site of the Bloody Sunday beatings during the Civil Rights movement in 1965, when a then 25-year-old Lewis was nearly clubbed to death by state troopers, NPR reported.
State legislators, including those from his own party, were quick to condemn Dismukes.
The Alabama Democratic Party and the Alabama House Democratic Caucus have called for him to resign, saying “Dismukes should be strongly, loudly and clearly condemned by everyone of every political stripe across the state of Alabama, full stop.”
Sen. Clyde Chambliss, a Republican from the same district as Dismukes, said his colleague’s actions don’t represent his or his district’s viewpoints.
“The post is bad enough, the timing is even worse, but the real problem is that an elected official in 2020 would attend a celebration of the life of someone that led a group that terrorized and killed other human beings,” Chambliss said in a Facebook post Monday.
Another Republican, Rep. Danny Garrett, said he “cannot fathom why anyone in 2020 celebrates the birthday of the 1st KKK Grand Wizard,” according to a Twitter post Sunday.
“And while the body of a civil rights icon beaten by the Klan lies at state Capitol being honored by GOP/Dem leaders from all over the state,” Garrett continued. “This mentality does not rep my party or my faith.”
In a statement Monday, Alabama Republican Party Chairman Terry Lathan condemned Dismukes’ actions and urged his constituents to take action.
“Rep. Dismukes offered no explanation for why he participated in a birthday celebration of Nathan Bedford Forrest,” Lathan said in the statement. “Additionally, I find his statement to be shallow in understanding why his activities are deeply offensive to so many Alabamians. His constituents will be the final decision makers of his political future.”
Dismukes told WSFA on Monday he was “surprised” by the reaction to his Facebook post.
“To be 100 percent honest with you, when I made the post I wasn’t even thinking about that connection,” Dismukes said of the memorial for Lewis, according to WSFA. “You know, hey, that’s on me. That wasn’t even running through my mind.”
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Alabama lawmaker celebrated KKK leader as John Lewis was memorialized in same city."
