Saturday, February 15, 2025, 6:09AM |  29°
MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement
Vice President Kamala Harris marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after speaking in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
5
MORE

Kamala Harris marks ‘Bloody Sunday’ anniversary in Selma

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Kamala Harris marks ‘Bloody Sunday’ anniversary in Selma

SELMA, Ala. — Vice President Kamala Harris visited Selma, Alabama, on Sunday to commemorate a defining moment in the fight for equal voting rights, even as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered.

Under a blazing blue sky, Ms. Harris linked arms with rank-and-file activists from the civil rights movement and led thousands across the bridge where, on March 7, 1965, white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross. The images of violence at the Edmund Pettus Bridge — originally named for a Confederate general — shocked the nation and helped galvanize support for passage of the Voting Rights Act.

Ms. Harris called the site hallowed ground on which people fought for the “most fundamental right of America citizenship: the right to vote.”

Advertisement

“Today, we stand on this bridge at a different time,” Ms. Harris said in a speech before the gathered crowd. “We again, however, find ourselves caught in between. Between injustice and justice. Between disappointment and determination. Still in a fight to form a more perfect union. And nowhere is that more clear than when it comes to the ongoing fight to secure the freedom 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 were kneeling when the state troopers charged. They were praying when the billy clubs struck.”

Among those peaceful demonstrators who police beat and tear-gassed was young activist John Lewis, who went on to become a longtime Georgia congressman.

President Joe Biden on Sunday renewed his call for the passage of voting legislation, saying the groundbreaking 1965 Voting Rights Act “has been weakened not by brute force, but by insidious court decisions.”

Advertisement

The proposed legislation is named for Lewis, who died in 2020, and is part of a broader elections package that collapsed in the U.S. 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 uphold the integrity of our elections,” Mr. Biden said in a statement.

Democrats are unsuccessfully trying to update the landmark law and pass additional measures to make it more convenient for people to vote. A key provision of the law was tossed out by a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Among those gathered Sunday were women who had fled beatings in the 1965 march. Seated near the stage ahead of Ms. Harris’ speech, they said having Harrison as vice president seemed unimaginable 57 years ago.

“That’s why we marched,” said Betty Boynton, the daughter-in-law of voting rights activist Amelia Boynton.

“I was at the tail end and all of the sudden I saw these horses. Oh my goodness, and all of the sudden ... I saw smoke. I didn’t know what tear gas was. There were beating people” Ms. Boynton said.

But Ms. Boynton said the anniversary is tempered by fears of the impact of new voting restrictions being enacted.

“And now they are trying to take our voting rights from us. I wouldn’t think in 2022 we would have to do all over again what we did in 1965,” Ms. Boynton said.

Ora Bell Shannon, 90, of Selma, was a young mother during the march and ran from the bridge with her children. Ahead of Bloody Sunday, she and other Black citizens stood in line for days at a time trying to register to vote in the then white-controlled city, facing impossible voter tests and long lines.

“They knew you wouldn’t be able to pass the test,” Ms. Shannon recalled.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 gutted a portion of the 1965 law that required certain states with a history of discrimination in voting, mainly in the South, to get U.S. Justice Department approval before changing the way they hold elections.

The supporters of the end of preclearance said the requirement — while necessary in the 1960s — was was no longer needed. Voting rights activists have warned the end of preclearance is emboldening states to pass a new wave of voting restrictions.

The sweeping legislation called the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act would restore the preclearance requirement and the put nationwide standards for how elections operate — such as making Election Day a national holiday and allowing early voting nationwide — stablish rules for redistricting criteria.

First Published: March 6, 2022, 10:57 p.m.

RELATED
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
The North Shore offices of the Post-Gazette
1
business
Federal judge denies NLRB's injunction attempt against the Post-Gazette
TSA officials display the proper way to transport a gun in checked luggage during a press conference at Pittsburgh International Airport Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025.
2
news
TSA intercepts loaded pink gun at Pittsburgh International Airport
Mark Sevco has been named president of Allegheny Health Network
3
business
Former UPMC executive joins Allegheny Health Network
Justin Fields #2 of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on from the sideline in the second quarter of a game against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on November 10, 2024, in Landover, Maryland.
4
sports
Analysis: Steelers could still find a franchise quarterback in Justin Fields, but he’d have to defy history
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Preston Smith (91) celebrates a play while playing the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in the North Shore.
5
sports
Steelers release LB Preston Smith, hire New Castle native Scott McCurley as inside linebackers coach
Vice President Kamala Harris marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after speaking in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Vice President Kamala Harris marches on the Edmund Pettus Bridge after speaking in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)  (Brynn Anderson)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks near the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)  (Brynn Anderson)
FILE - Alabama state troopers attack voting rights demonstrators in Selma, Ala., in this file photo from March 7, 1965. Despite being known worldwide as a beacon of voting rights, the city and surrounding Dallas County had one of the worst voter turnouts in Alabama for the 2020 presidential election, and some are trying to increase voter participation. (AP Photo/File)  (AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story