Vice President Kamala Harris marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after speaking in Selma, Ala., on Sunday.
Brynn Anderson / AP
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Brynn Anderson / AP
Vice President Kamala Harris marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after speaking in Selma, Ala., on Sunday.
Brynn Anderson / AP
SELMA, Ala. – Vice President Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama, on Sunday to celebrate a pivotal moment in the fight for equal suffrage, even as Congressional efforts to reinstate the Rights Act The 1965 election was a landmark.
Under a blazing blue sky, Harris linked arms with prominent activists from the civil rights movement and led thousands of people across the bridge, where on March 7, 1965, state troopers White attacked black suffrage marchers trying to cross. Violent images at the Edmund Pettus Bridge – originally named for a Confederate general – shocked the country and helped galvanize support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Harris calls the site a holy place on which people fight for “the most fundamental right of American citizenship: the right to vote.”
“Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time,” Harris said in a speech to the gathering crowd. “However, once again we find ourselves caught in the middle. Between injustice and justice. Between frustration and determination. Still fighting to form a more perfect union. And nowhere is it clear. clearer when it comes to the ongoing fight to secure the right to vote.”
The attack on civil rights marchers became a defining moment
The nation’s first female vice president – as well as the first African-American and Indian-American in the role – spoke of marchers whose “peaceful protest was met with crushing violence. They knelt down as state soldiers attacked. They were praying when two club teams were beaten.”
Among the peaceful protesters beaten by police and left in tears was young activist John Lewis, who became a longtime Georgia congressman.
President Joe Biden on Sunday continued his call to pass the voting law, saying the groundbreaking 1965 Voting Rights Act “has been weakened not by force, but by cunning decisions.” judgment of the court.”
The proposed legislation is named for Lewis, who passed away in 2020, and is part of a broader electoral package that collapsed in the US Senate in February.
“In Selma, the blood of John Lewis and so many other courageous Americans sanctified a noble struggle. We are determined to honor that legacy by passing legislation to protect the right to vote and to maintain uphold the integrity of our elections,” Biden said in a statement.
There have been new voting restrictions introduced since 1965
Democrats are trying unsuccessfully to update the landmark law and pass additional measures to make voting more convenient. An important provision of the law was brought up by a decision of the United States Supreme Court.
Among those gathered on Sunday were women who had fled battles during the 1965 march. Sitting near the stage before Harris’ speech, they said that having Harrison as vice president seemed as unthinkable 57 years ago.
“That’s why we’re marching,” said Betty Boynton, daughter-in-law of suffrage activist Amelia Boynton.
“I was at the back end of the car and suddenly I saw these horses. Oh my, and all of a sudden… I saw smoke. I didn’t know what tear gas was. There were people beating,” Boynton said.
But Boynton said the celebration was tempered by concerns about the impact of the newly enacted voting restrictions.
“And now they’re trying to take away our voting rights. I wouldn’t think that in 2022 we’re going to have to do all the things we did in 1965,” Boynton said.
Ora Bell Shannon, 90, of Selma, was a young mother in the march and ran from the bridge with her children. Before Bloody Sunday, she and other Black citizens stood in line for days to register to vote in the white-controlled city, facing impossible voter checks and long line.
“They knew you wouldn’t be able to pass the test,” recalls Shannon.
A Supreme Court ruling in 2013 opened the door for states to bypass more restrictions
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 partially withdrew a 1965 law that required certain states with a history of discriminatory voting, primarily in the South, to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before changing the vote. change the way elections are held.
Advocates of ending pre-clearance argue that this requirement – while necessary in the 1960s – is no longer necessary. Suffrage activists have warned ending pre-clearance is encouraging states to weather a new wave of voting restrictions.
The sweeping legislation called Freedom to Vote: The John R. Lewis Act would reinstate the pre-clearance requirement and set out nationwide standards for how elections should work – such as make Election Day a national holiday and allow early voting nationwide – establishing the rules for redistricting criteria.
SELMA, Ala. – Vice President Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama on Sunday to celebrate a pivotal moment in the battle for suffrage, setting her trip amid Congressional efforts to reinstate the Act The landmark 1965 Voting Rights.
Under a blazing blue sky, Harris took to the stage at the foot of the bridge, where in 1965 white state soldiers attacked black suffrage marchers trying to cross. Harris calls the site a holy place on which people fight for “the most fundamental right of American citizenship: the right to vote.”
“Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time,” Harris told a cheering crowd of thousands. “However, once again we find ourselves caught in the middle. Between injustice and justice. Between frustration and determination. Still fighting to form a more perfect union. And nowhere is it clear. clearer when it comes to the ongoing fight to secure the right to vote.”
The nation’s first female vice president – as well as the first African-American and Indian-American in the role – spoke of marchers whose “peaceful protest was met with crushing violence. They knelt down as state soldiers attacked. They were praying when two club teams were beaten.”
On “Bloody Sunday,” March 7, 1965, state soldiers beat and tore apart peaceful protesters, including young activist John Lewis, who later became a longtime congressman. of Georgia. Violent images at the Edmund Pettus Bridge – originally named for a Confederate general – shocked the country and helped galvanize support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Fifty-seven years later, Democrats are unsuccessfully trying to update the landmark law and pass additional measures to make voting more convenient. An important provision of the law was brought up by a decision of the United States Supreme Court.
“In a time of great uncertainty, those marches move forward and they cross,” Harris said. “We must do the same. We must lock up our weapons and move forward. We will not let failure stop us. We know that honoring the legacy of those who marched for asks us to continue to push Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation.”
President Joe Biden on Sunday continued to call for the passage of the voting law.
“The battle for the soul of America has many fronts. The right to vote is the most fundamental,” Biden said in a White House statement.
In Selma, a crowd had gathered hours before Harris was scheduled to speak. Activists of the civil rights ranks, including women fleeing the beatings of Bloody Sunday, sat near the stage. They say the milestone of Harris becoming the nation’s first black female vice president seemed unthinkable in 1965.
“That’s why we’re marching,” said Betty Boynton, daughter-in-law of suffrage activist Amelia Boynton.
“I was at the back end of the car and suddenly I saw these horses. Oh my, and all of a sudden… I saw smoke. I didn’t know what tear gas was. There were people beating,” Boynton said.
But Boynton said Sunday’s celebrations were tempered by concerns about the impact of the newly enacted voting restrictions.
“And now they’re trying to take away our voting rights. I wouldn’t think that in 2022 we’re going to have to do all the things we did in 1965,” Boynton said.
Ora Bell Shannon, 90, of Selma, was a young mother in the march and ran from the bridge with her children. Before Bloody Sunday, she and other Black citizens stood in line for days to register to vote in the white-controlled city, facing impossible voter checks and long line.
“They knew you wouldn’t be able to pass the test,” recalls Shannon.
Biden said the power of the groundbreaking 1965 Voting Rights Act “was weakened not by brute force, but by cunning court decisions.”
The act, named for Lewis, who passed away in 2020, was part of a broader electoral package that collapsed in the US Senate in February.
“In Selma, the blood of John Lewis and so many other courageous Americans sanctified a noble struggle. We are determined to honor that legacy by passing legislation to protect the right to vote and to maintain uphold the integrity of our elections, including the John Lewis Progressive Act and the Freedom of Voting Act,” Biden said in a statement.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 partially withdrew a 1965 law that required certain states with a history of discriminatory voting, primarily in the South, to obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before changing the vote. change the way elections are held.
Advocates of ending pre-clearance argue that this requirement – while necessary in the 1960s – is no longer necessary. Suffrage activists have warned ending pre-clearance is encouraging states to weather a new wave of voting restrictions.
The sweeping legislation called Freedom to Vote: The John R. Lewis Act would reinstate the pre-clearance requirement and set out nationwide standards for how elections should work – such as make Election Day a national holiday and allow early voting nationwide – establishing the rules for redistricting criteria.
