Selma Civil Rights Anniversary Shadowed by Voting Rights Concerns

Thousands gathered in Selma, Alabama this weekend to commemorate the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when state troopers brutally attacked civil rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The anniversary comes as the Supreme Court considers a case that could weaken key provisions of the Voting Rights Act that emerged from that historic violence.

SELMA, Ala. — Thousands converged on this historic Alabama city over the weekend to mark 61 years since state troopers brutally attacked civil rights demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but this year’s commemoration carries fresh anxiety about the future of voting protections.

The brutal assault on March 7, 1965 — later dubbed Bloody Sunday — horrified Americans nationwide and became a catalyst for enacting groundbreaking federal legislation that eliminated voting obstacles faced by Black citizens throughout the segregated South.

This year’s memorial events, which span the entire weekend and culminate with Sunday’s symbolic bridge crossing, occur while the nation’s highest court weighs a case that could weaken a crucial section of the Voting Rights Act designed to protect minority representation in congressional and local elections.

“I’m concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated,” said Charles Mauldin, 78, one of the marchers who was beaten that day.

The Supreme Court is poised to decide a Louisiana dispute about whether race can be considered when creating congressional boundaries. A decision restricting such considerations could have far-reaching implications, potentially allowing Republican-led states to redraw maps and eliminate districts where Black and Latino voters hold majorities — areas that typically support Democratic candidates.

Democratic politicians, civil rights advocates and other leaders flocked to the southern community to honor this crucial Civil Rights Movement milestone while urging continued activism. Just as the original Bloody Sunday demonstrators persevered, today’s organizers emphasized the need for ongoing determination.

Former state Sen. Hank Sanders, who co-founded the yearly remembrance ceremony, described the 1965 Selma confrontation as a watershed moment that advanced America toward genuine democratic ideals.

“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.

During the original 1965 demonstration, protesters led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams proceeded in pairs across the Selma span toward Montgomery. Mauldin, just 17 at the time, marched in the third pair behind the two leaders.

Reaching the bridge’s highest point, the marchers spotted the massive force of law enforcement officials, including mounted officers, positioned ahead. Despite the intimidating scene, they continued forward. “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.