A new proposal from President Obama could bring a massive renovation to a handful of historic civil rights sites.
Earlier this week, as part of his national budget proposal, President Obama requested that $50 million be dedicated to the restoration of key historic civil rights sites around the country.
The Associated Press reports that if approved, the money would go toward renovating the Selma to Montgomery trail, Arkansas’ Little Rock Central High School National Site, a Brown v. Board of Education commemoration in Kansas and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta.
The budget reform would coincide with the 1965 voting rights act, which was partially triggered by Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma to Montgomery and the events preceding that powerful demonstration.
The money would not only be used to restore the locations themselves, but a portion would also go toward local museums and efforts to make information more accessible to the public.
This proposal comes as part of Obama’s $4 trillion budget proposal, which still has to pass the GOP-controlled Congress.