Friday night, our country lost one of its greatest leaders. Congressman John Lewis, the last of the Big Six, who, along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, and Whitney Young, fought for the many victories of the Civil Rights Movement.

Since then, a lot of people have been posting pictures of themselves with Congressman Elijah Cummings, another Civil Rights activist turned congressman who recently passed away in October of last year. Cummings and Lewis are two very different people, both who served our country valiantly and had many great Civil Rights achievements behind them. But why do so many people seem to think they’re the same person? 

Florida’s Republican Senator Marco Rubio was the first to make the mistake, tweeting a picture of him and Rep. Cummings from years earlier and even going as far as to make it his profile picture on Twitter. Once people took notice, he quickly took down his Tweet and replaced it hours later with an apology and a screenshot from a video featuring him and Rep. Lewis. 

Rubio, however, was far from the only one to make this mistake. Senator Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, made a Facebook post, sharing a picture of himself and Cummings at the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He quietly made the change, removing the photo of Cummings and adding one with Lewis instead. 

These mistakes are to be expected from the likes of Rubio and Sullivan who have spent their careers fighting to undo the progress that both Lewis and Cummings worked so hard to gain. But perhaps the greatest offense comes from a Virginia Democrat. 

State Senator Barbara Favola (D-Arlington) made a Facebook post Saturday evening, stating, “I had the honor of hosting John Lewis for a fundraiser at my home in 2016.” The only problem is…she didn’t. Favola hosted Representative Elijah Cummings, whom she posted a photo of, mistaking him for Lewis. Favola quickly and quietly took down the post as people began to take notice, but she never replaced it with a memorial to Lewis. She also didn’t issue an apology for confusing the two great men.

What makes Favola’s post more troubling than Rubio’s or Sullivan’s is the fact that this photo of Cummings was taken in her own home. Is she so racist that she doesn’t know which Black Congressman, who happens to be a member of her own party, she hosted at her house? Further, she didn’t post anything to apologize or honor Lewis after her mistake. Why? 

Unfortunately, this was bound to happen. After Cummings passed away last year, actor Bill Corbett warned, “fellow white people, please do not embarrass yourselves today by confusing Rep. Elijah Cummings with Rep. John Lewis.” 

It’s shameful that these elected officials and their staffs allowed this to happen, and it’s even more shameful that Rubio is the only one of the three who actually issued an apology. Especially in the current climate, people need to be aware of what they post and how it can derail the progress we’re making.

As Brittany Packnett Tweeted after Elijah Cummings passed away, “I do not have the patience for people who confuse Elijah Cummings and John Lewis today. Or ever.”

https://twitter.com/MsPackyetti/status/1184816425887846402