Civil rights groups call for collapsed Baltimore bridge to be renamed when it's ... trends now

Civil rights groups are calling for the collapsed Baltimore bridge to be renamed when it's rebuilt, citing accusations of racism against national anthem author Francis Scott Key.

The Caucus of African American Leaders of Anne Arundel County in Maryland voted unanimously to call for the renaming and will lobby governor Wes Moore on the proposal, as reported by the Baltimore Banner.

The caucus includes civil rights groups such as the NAACP and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Leaders argued that the The Star-Spangled Banner author was a slave owner who wrote lyrics that scholars have said 'demeaned black people.'

They have asked for the bridge to be renamed after late congressman Parren J Mitchel, the first black man from Maryland elected to the US House of Representatives.

Democratic gov Moore told Fox News he remains 'laser-focused on providing closure to these families, clearing the channel, and rebuilding the bridge.'

However, the Baltimore Banner reported that on Monday Moore told reporters there will 'be a time for that' conversation at a later date. 

While as a lawyer Key helped many black Marylanders obtain their freedom before emancipation, he opposed the idea of free black citizens in the US, helping create the American Colonization Society, which promoted the emigration of black Americans to Africa.

Key is also often quoted as claiming that black Americans are 'a distinct and inferior race of people, which all experience proves to be the greatest evil that afflicts a community.'

However,  the Star Spangled Banner Foundation has claimed the racist quote is 'Incorrectly credited to Key as a first-person expression of his attitudes about race in the United States.'

The foundation added: 'The quote is taken from page 40 of Jefferson Morley's generally insightful 2012 book Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835).