SELMA, Alas. (AP) – President Joe Biden used the poignant memories of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday” to recommit himself to the foundations of democracy, creating a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement when he couldn’t push for better elections. protections through Congress and the conservative Supreme Court have undermined landmark voting laws.
“Selma is a calculation. The right to vote … to make your vote count is the threshold of democracy and freedom. With all things possible,” Biden told a crowd of more than 1,000 seated along the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, named after the famous Ku Klux Klan leader.
“This fundamental right remains under attack. The conservative Supreme Court has been striking down the Voting Rights Act for years. Since the 2020 election, a wave of states and dozens and dozens of anti-voting laws have been pushed by the ‘Big Lie’ and election deniers now elected to office,” he said.
As a candidate in 2020, Biden has pledged to push for sweeping legislation to improve voting rights protections. Two years ago, the 2021 law, named after civil rights leader John Lewis, the late Georgia congressman, included provisions to limit partisan gerrymandering in congressional districts, remove barriers to voting and bring transparency to the campaign finance system that allows wealthy donors to bankroll . cause anonymous politics.
He passed the Democratic-controlled House, but failed to pull the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate despite Biden’s party control. With Republicans now in control of the House, passage of the legislation is unlikely.
“We know we have to get votes in Congress,” Biden said, but there’s no way to do it right now.
The visit to Selma was an opportunity for Biden to speak directly to the current generation of civil rights activists. Many feel disappointed by the lack of progress on suffrage and they want to see their government stay in the spotlight.
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Few moments have been as pivotal to the civil rights movement as what happened on March 7, 1965, in Selma and in the weeks that followed.
About 600 peaceful protesters led by Lewis and his friend Hosea Williams gathered that day, just a few weeks after the fatal shooting of a young black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by an Alabama soldier.
Lewis and others were brutally beaten by Alabama troopers and sheriff’s deputies as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge at the start of a 54-mile march to the state Capitol in Montgomery as part of a larger effort to register. Black voters in the South.
“On this bridge, blood was given to save America’s soul,” Biden said.
Images of police violence sparked outrage across the country. The next day, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. leading what is known as “Turnaround Tuesday”, where marchers approach the police wall on the bridge and pray before returning.
President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965 eight days after “Bloody Sunday,” calling Selma one of those rare moments in American history where “history and destiny met at one moment.” On March 21, King began his third march, under federal protection, which grew to thousands when he reached the state Capitol. Five months later, Johnson signed the bill into law.
This year’s commemoration comes as the historic city of about 18,000 is still reeling from January’s EF-2 tornado that damaged or destroyed thousands of properties in and around Selma. Scars from the storm were still visible on Sunday. Blocks from the stage where Biden spoke, houses collapsed or were without roofs. Orange spray paint marked unsalvageable buildings with instructions to “tear them down”.
“We are keeping Selma strong,” said Mayor James Perkins, adding “we will rebuild better.” He thanked Biden for approving a disaster declaration that helped small towns with cleanup and debris removal costs.
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Before Biden’s visit, the Reverend William Barber II, co-chairman of the Poor People’s Campaign, and six other activists wrote to Biden and members of Congress to express their frustration at the lack of progress on voting rights legislation. He urged Washington politicians visiting Selma not to tarnish the memories of Lewis and Williams and other civil rights activists with empty platitudes.
“We said to President Biden, let’s make this to America a moral issue, and let’s show how it affects everyone,” Barber said in an interview.
Among those who shared the stage with Biden before the march crossed the bridge were Barber, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King III and Reverend Al Sharpton.
Bottles of water were handed out to some of the people who had gathered to hear Biden and at least one person was carried away on a stretcher because the heat was in the 70s. Some had waited hours in the sun before relief came from the shadow of the shop building.
Delores Gresham, 65, a retired health care worker from Birmingham, arrived four hours early, taking a front row seat so her grandchildren could hear the president and see the memorial.
“I want them to know what’s going on here,” he said.
In his remarks, Biden said, “Everybody needs to know what Selma really is.”
Two years ago on his anniversary, Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies to expand access to voter registration, asking agency heads to create plans to give federal employees time to vote or volunteer as nonpartisan poll workers, and more. .
But many federal agencies are lagging behind in meeting the vote registration provisions of Biden’s order, according to a report published Thursday by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.