Michigan will have a new statue representing the state in the US Capitol. The Legislature has adopted a resolution to replace a statue of Lewis Cass with one of the late Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.
Young’s resume includes Detroit’s first Black mayor, Tuskegee Airman in World War Two, and he stood up to the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1950s.
The resolution was sponsored by Democratic Senator Adam Hollier. He says the statue of Young will be the first in Statuary Hall of an African American man.
“From now on, when you go to DC and you see that statue, that’s what you’ll google. That’s what you’ll see. That’s the story you’ll be telling.” said Hollier.
Lewis Cass, a Michigan territorial governor, US Senator and presidential cabinet member -- presided over the removal of Native Americans and supported the expansion of slavery.