In Selma, Alabama, the echoes of history resonate powerfully this weekend as thousands gather to commemorate the events of Bloody Sunday. Sixty-one years ago, state troopers violently clashed with Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an incident that shocked the nation and catalyzed the passage of the Voting Rights Act. This landmark legislation dismantled the barriers that once suppressed voting rights for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South.
Today, the significance of that fateful day in 1965 looms larger than ever, as the future of the Voting Rights Act appears uncertain. This year’s anniversary, featuring events throughout the weekend and culminating in a commemorative march across the iconic bridge, is shadowed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of a case that could potentially limit a crucial provision of the Act. This provision has long been instrumental in ensuring minority voters have a fair chance to elect candidates of their choice in certain congressional and local districts.
“I’m concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated,” expressed Charles Mauldin, now 78, who was among those beaten on that pivotal day. His concerns are echoed by many as the Supreme Court is set to rule on a Louisiana case that addresses the influence of race in drawing congressional districts. Should the ruling curtail this influence, it could pave the way for Republican-controlled states to redraw district lines, potentially dismantling majority Black and Latino districts that typically favor Democrats.
The city of Selma is once again a focal point for Democratic leaders, civil rights activists, and others who gather to honor this critical chapter of the Civil Rights Movement. Their presence serves not only as a tribute but also as a rallying call to action. Organizers remind participants that, like the marchers on Bloody Sunday, the struggle for justice and equality must persist.
Justices are expected to rule soon on a Louisiana case regarding the role of race in drawing congressional districts. A ruling prohibiting or limiting that role could have sweeping consequences, potentially opening the door for Republican-controlled states to redistrict and roll back majority Black and Latino districts that tend to favor Democrats.
Democratic officeholders, civil rights leaders and others have descended on the southern city to pay homage to the pivotal moment of the Civil Rights Movement and to issue calls to action. Like the marchers on Bloody Sunday, they must keep pressing forward, organizers said.
Former state Sen. Hank Sanders, who helped start the annual commemoration, said the 1965 events in Selma marked a turning point in the nation and helped push the United States closer to becoming a true democracy.
“The feeling is a profound fear that we will be taken back — a greater fear than at any time since 1965,” Sanders said.
U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures won election in 2024 to an Alabama district that was redrawn by the federal court. He said what happened in Selma and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act “was monumental in shaping what America looks like and how America is represented in Congress.”
“I think coming to Selma is a refreshing reminder every single year that the progress that we got from the Civil Rights Movement is not perpetual. It’s been under consistent attacks almost since we’ve gotten those rights,” Figures said.
In 1965, the Bloody Sunday marchers led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams walked in pairs across the Selma bridge headed toward Montgomery. Mauldin, then 17, was part of the third pair behind Williams and Lewis.
At the apex of the bridge, they could see the sea of law enforcement officers, including some on horseback, waiting for them. But they kept going. “Being fearful was not an option. And it wasn’t that we didn’t have fear, it’s that we chose courage over fear,” Mauldin recalled in a telephone interview.
“We were all hit. We were trampled. We were tear-gassed. And we were brutalized by the state of Alabama,” Mauldin said.
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