Biden’s Selma visit puts spotlight back on voting rights

SELMA, Ala. (AP) — President Joe Biden is being held to honor the fallen heroes “Bloody Sunday,” Join thousands to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 seminal moment in the civil rights movement This led to the passing of landmark voting rights legislation It was almost 60 years ago.

The visit to Selma, Alabama, on Sunday Biden can also speak directly with the next generation of civil right activists. People feel disappointed that Biden failed to fulfill his campaign promise to boost civil rights. voting rights We are excited to see the administration continue to keep this issue front and center.

Biden will use his comments to stress the importance of remembering “Bloody Sunday” White House officials stated that they are trying to show that voting rights remain integral to civil and economic justice for Black Americans.

The historic city of approximately 18,000 will be commemorated this year. still digging out Following the January EF-2 tornado, which damaged or destroyed many properties around Selma in the area of Selma, It is still visible the scars left by that storm. There were many houses without or in crumbled condition blocks away from where Biden spoke. With instructions, orange spray paint was used to mark buildings that were beyond salvage. “tear down.”

Prior to Biden’s visit the Rev. William Barber II (co-chair of Poor People’s Campaign) and six others were among the activists. wrote Biden and members of Congress To express frustration at lack of progress regarding voting rights legislation, Washington lawmakers visiting Selma were urged to respect the legacy of late civil rights activists. John Lewis, Hosea Williams, and other empty platitudes.

“We’re saying to President Biden, let’s frame this to America as a moral issue, and let’s show how it effects everybody,” Barber spoke in an interview. “When voting rights passed after Selma, it didn’t just help Black people. It helped America itself. We need the president to reframe this: When you block voting rights, you’re not just hurting Black people. You’re hurting America itself.”

Selma’s March 7th 1965 event and its subsequent weeks are among the most important moments in civil rights history.

Lewis and Williams led 600 peaceful protestors that day. This was just weeks after the shooting death of a young Black male. Jimmie Lee Jackson, An Alabama trooper.

Lewis was later to serve in the U.S. House as Georgia’s representative. Lewis and others were viciously attacked by Alabama troopers. Edmund Pettus Bridge The start of the 54-mile trek to Montgomery, part of larger efforts to register Black voters in South Africa.