President Joe Biden is set to pay tribute to the heroes of “Bloody Sunday,” joining thousands for the annual commemoration of the pivotal moment in the civil rights movement that led to the passage of historic voting rights legislation nearly 60 years ago.
Sunday’s trip to Selma, Alabama, is also an opportunity for Biden to speak directly to the current generation of civil rights activists. Many feel depressed because Biden has been unable to make good on a campaign pledge to strengthen voting rights and his administration has been eager to put the issue in the spotlight.
According to the White House, Biden wants to use his remarks to underscore the importance of commemorating Bloody Sunday so that history is not erased while fighting for voting rights to deliver economic justice and civil rights for black Americans. remains integral. officers.
This year’s commemoration also comes as the historic city of about 18,000 is still digging through the aftermath of a January EF-2 tornado that destroyed or damaged thousands of properties in and around Selma. The scars of that storm are still evident. The stage where Biden was to speak had blocks of houses that sat dilapidated or without roofs. Orange spray paint marked buildings beyond defense with instructions to “tear down”.
Prior to Biden’s visit, Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, along with six other activists, wrote a letter to Biden and members of Congress expressing their frustration with the lack of progress on voting rights legislation. He urged Washington politicians visiting Selma not to belittle the memory of late civil rights activists John Lewis, Hosea Williams, and others.
“We’re saying to President Biden, let’s look at this as a moral issue to America, and show how it affects everyone,” Barber said in an interview. “When voting rights passed after Selma, it didn’t just help black people. It helped America itself. We need a president to redefine this: When you block voting rights If you do, you’re not only hurting black people. You’re hurting America.”
Few moments have had as much lasting significance to the civil rights movement as what happened in Selma on March 7, 1965, and in the weeks that followed.
Some 600 peaceful protesters led by Lewis and Williams had gathered that day, just weeks after the fatal shooting of a young black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by an Alabama trooper.
Lewis, who would later represent Georgia in the U.S. The state capital in Montgomery, part of a larger effort to register black voters in the South
The images of police violence sparked outrage across the country. A few days later, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led what became known as the “Turnaround Tuesday” march, in which passengers approached a wall of police on the bridge and prayed before turning back.
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 meet at the same time.” On March 21, King began a third march under federal protection, which swelled to thousands by the time they reached the state capital. Five months later, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
As a candidate for the 2020 White House, Biden promised to pursue comprehensive legislation to protect voting rights.
Biden unveiled his legislation in 2021 – naming it the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It included provisions restricting partisan rigging of congressional districts, removing barriers to voting, and bringing transparency to a shadowy campaign finance system that allows wealthy donors to anonymously control political causes.
It passed the then-Democratic-controlled House but failed to garner the 60 votes needed for passage in the Senate. With Republicans now in control of the House, such legislation is unlikely to pass.
Keisha Lance Bottoms, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said Biden understands the anger of civil rights activists over the lack of progress.
“He’s disappointed,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we have to stop. It doesn’t mean we stop pushing like the 25-year-old John Lewis who led the march of 600 across that bridge in Selma.
Civil rights activists say the Biden administration could be doing more on the issue.
On the day of the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration two years ago, Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies to expand access to voter registration, giving heads of agencies plans to allow federal employees to vote or volunteer time. invited to come along. Independent Polling Activists, and more.
But according to a report published Thursday by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, several federal agencies are lagging behind in meeting the vote registration provision of Biden’s order.
According to the report, only three of the 10 agencies reviewed — the Departments of the Interior, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs — were on track to integrating voter registration services into their everyday interactions with the public.
The group says that if agencies fully implemented the voter registration efforts set forth in the executive order, it would generate an additional 3.5 million voter registration applications annually.
“We are two years into this executive order and two years into this administration and agencies have had plenty of time to evaluate and deliberate,” said Laura Williamson, associate director for democracy at the left-leaning group Demos.
Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that the administration would continue to enforce the order while pressing Congress to act on the comprehensive voting law. “If we are to truly honor the legacy of those who marched in Selma on Bloody Sunday, we must continue to fight to preserve our freedom to vote,” Harris said.
Selma officials expect Biden to also address the January tornado that devastated the city and laid bare issues of poverty built up in Selma over decades.
Biden approved a disaster declaration and agreed to provide additional assistance to clean up and remove the debris, a cost that Selma Mayor James Perkins said the small town could not afford on its own. Perkins said Selma still needed more help.
“I understand that other communities our size and our demographics have similar challenges…but I don’t think anyone can claim what Selma has done for this country and the contributions we’ve made to this country.” ,” They said.