This visit comes at a time when congressional efforts to reinstate the 1965 Voting Rights Act are failing.
Sunday’s call by President Joe Biden for passage of voting legislation was renewed by him.
“The fight for America’s soul has many fronts. In a White House statement, Biden stated that the right to vote was the most important.
Harris will be visiting Selma, Alabama to mark the 57th anniversary “Bloody Sunday”, the 1965 day when white troopers attacked Black marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge. At the site, often called “hallowed ground” in the fight for voting rights for minorities, Harris will be speaking as the nation’s first female vice-president and as well as the first African American woman and Indian American to hold the position.
On March 7, 1965, state troopers beat and tear-gassed peaceful protestors, including John Lewis, a young activist who became a long-term Georgia congressman. Images of the violence shocked the nation and led to support for the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Her visit to the city which was the cradle for the Voting Rights act comes as Democrats fail to update the landmark law after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling tossed out a key provision. They also failed to pass additional measures to make it easier to vote.
“In Selma the blood of John Lewis, and so many brave Americans, sanctified an noble struggle. Biden stated in a statement that he is determined to honor this legacy by passing legislation to preserve the right to vote, uphold the integrity and our elections including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (and the Freedom to Vote Act).
This legislation is named after Lewis, who died in 2020. It is part of an overall election package that collapsed at the U.S. Senate on February.
Biden stated that the 1965 law’s strength was not diminished by brute force but by insidious court rulings.
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court deleted a section of 1965 law that required states with a history discriminating in voting to obtain U.S. Justice Department approval prior to changing how they hold elections.
Supporters of ending preclearance stated that the requirement, while still necessary in the 1960s, was no longer required. Voting rights activists warn that the end of preclearance will encourage states to adopt new voting restrictions.
The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, a broad legislation, would reinstate the preclearance requirement. It would also establish national standards for how elections work. This includes making Election Day a national holiday or allowing early voting nationwide. There are also rules regarding redistricting criteria.
Politicians have made it a habit of stopping at the annual Bloody Sunday Remembrance to pay tribute to the Civil Rights Movement’s foot soldiers and call for action.
Selma saw a large crowd gather hours before Harris was due to speak. Near the stage were some foot soldiers from the civil rights movement. These included women who fled the bloody Sunday beatings. They said that the milestone of having a Black female vice president was unimaginable in 1965.
Betty Boynton, daughter-in-law to Amelia Boynton and a voting rights activist, stated, “That’s why they marched.”
“I was at the tail end, and all of a sudden I saw these horses. Oh my goodness! All of a sudden,.. I saw smoke. I didn’t understand what tear gas was. Boynton stated that there were “beat people”.
Boynton stated that the joy at the heart of the voting rights movement was tempered by concerns about the effects of new restrictions on voting.
“And now, they are trying to remove our voting rights. Boynton stated that he didn’t believe 2022 would be the same as 1965.
Ora Bell Shannon (90), of Selma was a young mother who ran from the bridge with her kids during the march. She and other Black citizens waited in line for days to register to vote in Selma, a city then controlled by whites. They were subject to difficult voter tests and long lines.
Shannon said, “They knew you wouldn’t pass the test.”
