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Marchers crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Sunday to commemorate the 58th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.“
President Joe Biden arrived in Alabama on Sunday morning. He addressed the crowd soon before the crossing, speaking to the nation about the protection and expansion of voting rights, and specifically calling for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act to be passed.
“The right to vote and to have the vote counted is the threshold of democracy. This fundamental right remains under assault,” said Biden, who referenced the Supreme Court Case Milligan v. Merrill, where judges are deciding on the constitutionality of Alabama refusing to provide another majority Black congressional district. “We will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote.”
“We know that we must get the votes in Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act,” the president said, referring in part to a measure named after the late Georgia congressman and civil rights icon. “I’ve made it clear: I will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote.”
Bloody Sunday commemorates the day when 600 people began a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, demanding an end to discrimination in voter registration. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge, state and local lawmen attacked the marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. Seventeen people were hospitalized, and dozens more were injured by police. The events sparked outrage across the country and helped rally support behind the Voting Rights Act. Lewis was among the protesters beaten that day.
Civil rights leaders and politicians were among those joining Biden in Selma on Sunday, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, House Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Alabama Rep. Terri Sewell, who represents Selma.
“My message to you is this: We see you. We’re fighting to make sure no one’s left behind. This is a time of choosing and we need everybody engaged,” Biden said. “So let’s pray, but let’s not rest. Let’s keep marching. Let’s keep the faith. But most of all, let’s remember who we are. We’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing, nothing, beyond our capacity when we act together.”
The president later participated in the annual walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the Bloody Sunday events.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who represented the administration at the anniversary event last year, said in a statement Sunday that “America has seen a new assault on the freedom to vote.”
“Extremists have worked to dismantle the voting protections that generations of civil rights leaders and advocates fought tirelessly to win. They have purged voters from the rolls. They have closed polling places. They have made it a crime to give water to people standing in line,” she said.
