Civil rights groups are calling for the renaming of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge because of its namesake’s ties to slavery

Civil rights groups are calling on the Maryland government to rename the Francis Scott Key Bridge because Key was reported to have owned slaves.

The African American Leadership Caucus, which incorporates members of distinguished organizations resembling the NAACP and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, voted unanimously to recommend renaming the bridge. NBC News reports that they’ve sent their recommendations to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and the General Assembly for consideration.

After the bridge collapsed in late March, federal and state leaders are considering various options to rebuild it, including changing its name. Since its construction in 1977, hundreds of thousands of vehicles have crossed the bridge yearly and it’s a crucial transport route.

Key, best known for writing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814, had what the National Park Service called a “conflicted relationship with slavery.” According to NBC News Key as well owned slaves and called Black Americans “a separate and inferior race. which all experience proves to be the best evil that afflicts the community.”

The club hopes to remove Key’s name from the bridge and replace it with Rep’s. Parren J. Mitchell, pioneer in the state. First elected as a Democrat in 1971, Mitchell represented Maryland’s seventh Congressional District for 16 years and was one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus. He died in 2007.

Club president Carl O. Snowden said Mitchell “spent his life, his entire life, creating a bridge between the African-American community and literally greater society.”

“Any public structure built to honor someone was built using taxpayer money,” Snowden said. “Whatever the bridge is named, it should be someone all taxpayers can respect.”