SELMA, Ala. (AP) – Attorney General Merrick Garland told parishioners at a service at a Selma church commemorating its 59th anniversary. Assault by Alabama judicial officers About civil rights demonstrators voting rights It is endangered in many parts of the country.
Garland said at Bloody Sunday service that Supreme Court and lower court decisions since 2006 have weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was passed in the wake of police attacks. On March 7, 1965, demonstrators attempting to march through Alabama in support of voting rights were beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.vice president kamala harris Leading the annual march Crossing the bridge on a Sunday afternoon.
The march and Garland's speech are among dozens of events taking place during the Selma Bridge Jubilee, which begins Thursday and culminates Sunday.
Garland said the ruling puts the voting rights of Black Americans at risk.
“Since these (court) decisions, there has been a dramatic increase in legislative actions that make it difficult for millions of voters to cast their votes and elect the representatives of their choice,” Garland said in Selma. He spoke to worshipers at Tabernacle Baptist Church. The first mass rally of the voting rights movement.
“These measures include practices and procedures that make voting more difficult. Redistricting maps disadvantaged minority; and changes in voting administration that reduce the power of locally elected or nonpartisan election officials,” he said. “Such measures threaten the foundations of our governance system.”
Harris is scheduled to speak at a rally after the march.
“During his speech, the vice president will honor the legacy of the civil rights movement, address ongoing efforts to achieve justice for all, and call for fundamental freedoms that are under attack across the country,” the White House said. We encourage Americans to continue the fight.” He said.
Harris participated in the 2022 march and gave a speech calling the site a sacred site and calling on Congress to protect democracy by protecting people's right to vote. On that anniversary, Harris spoke of marchers whose “peaceful protests were met with overwhelming violence.”
“They were on their knees when the state troopers charged at them,” she said at the time. “They were praying when the club was attacked.”
Footage of the violence on the bridge shocked Americans and galvanized support for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law broke down barriers that prevented blacks from voting.
“I would like to remind people that we are celebrating an event that put this country on a better path toward fuller integration,” said South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn, who is leading the pilgrimage to Selma. I want you to remember that.” The right to vote is not yet guaranteed.
Clyburn sees Selma as a central figure in the 1960s voting rights movement, but there are current efforts to curtail those rights.
“The Voting Rights Act of 1965 became a reality in August 1965 because of what happened on March 7, 1965,” Clyburn said.
“This country is at a tipping point,” he added. “And I hope this year’s march allows people to look at where we are.”
Clyburn said he hopes the weekend in Alabama will bring energy and unity to the civil rights movement and benefit the city of Selma.
“We need to do something to develop the waterfront. We need to do something to bring industry back to Selma,” Clyburn said. “We had to do something to compensate them for losing the military installations that provided them with all the jobs. There will be nothing left to continue.”
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Associated Press writers Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Stephen Groves in Washington, D.C., and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.
