The Legacy and Memorialization of John Lewis
Steve Charnovitz
19 July 2020
The passing of civil rights champion John Lewis has made this July 2020 weekend even sadder. Mr. Lewis pursued justice in all of his legislative activities including international trade where he served as a senior member of the US House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. I did not meet Lewis until 1987 when he became a member of the House. One of my assignments as a House leadership staffer was shepherding the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. I vividly recall discussing that legislation with Lewis including the labor rights provisions that Congressman Don Pease had authored. Lewis favored the use of trade agreements to seek fairer labor and human rights policies. He saw trade agreements as “reflections of our values.” I particularly liked his speech to the House where Lewis said, “In 1807, this very Congress passed the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves. Trade and labor, trade and human rights have always been linked; it is not something that is new.” Lewis was also a strong advocate in favor of environmental protection, including through trade agreements.
America’s pantheon is Statuary Hall in the US Capitol where statutes are contributed by our states. The State of Georgia’s representative in Statuary Hall is Alexander Hamilton Stephens who served in the Congress twice during the 19th century, once before the Civil War and once afterwards. Stephens was a man torn in many directions — a friend of Lincoln’s, an opponent of southern succession, a supporter of slavery and racial inequality, and a reluctant Vice President of the Confederacy. The marble statue of Stephens is an important piece of art having been carved by Gutzon Borglum and installed in 1927 (around the time that Borglum began working on Mount Rushmore.). Whatever the original merits of venerating Stephens, he has been there long enough. It is time for modern Georgia to select a better representative for Statuary Hall.
As a native of Savannah, Georgia, I have urged the State of Georgia to announce early next week that it will replace the Statue of Stephens with a Statue of John Lewis.
