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“Bloody Sunday” History, Legacy and Continuing Need BY PROFESSOR IRVING L. JOYNER
On March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, future congressman John Lewis led over 650 peaceful marchers from the Brown Chapel AME Church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was to be the first leg of a widely publicized march to Montgomery, the state capitol. The march and an accompanying rally were to focus on the systematic and historic denial of the right to vote by African Americans and to demand the passage of federal legislation to give legal protections to African Americans who sought to register to vote. The Edmund Pettus Bridge was six blocks away from the church and had to be crossed in order for marchers to leave Selma. The march and rally were organized by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, (SNCC) the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and local community organizers. As they marched in pairs along the sidewalk and crossed the bridge, they were confronted by a corridor of over 50 armed Alabama State troopers and White vigilantes, many of whom rode horses, dressed in riot gear and armed with batons and clubs. When marchers neared the end of the bridge, they were informed that they would not be allowed to cross; soon after this announcement, the troopers and vigilantes charged into the marchers on foot and horseback, unleashed canisters of tear gas and conducted a vicious and brutal baton wielding attack on the defenseless and trapped marchers. This unlawful and unprovoked law enforcement instigated attack became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The vicious attack, which was recorded by television cameras and radio, resulted in the hospitalization of 17 marchers, including John Lewis (who was at the front of the line) and serious injury to more than 100 other women, men and children. News footage which documented this attack was immediately disseminated around the United States and immediate outrage was voiced by civil rights leaders, activists, political leaders, celebrities and many others. This outrage quickly resulted in the planning of a follow-up march which was conducted two days later and was led by Dr. Martin Luther King. On March 9, over 2500 marchers followed the same route that was taken on Sunday from Brown Chapel to the Edmund Pettus Bridge and, when 20
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they reached the midpoint, they were also met by a larger and reinforced grouping of Alabama State Troopers and another contingent of White vigilantes who were there to provide assistance. When confronted by this armed group in what is referred to as “Turnaround Tuesday,” King and the march leadership quickly kneeled, prayed and decided to retreat and returned to Brown Chapel. That night, Rev. James Reeb, a White marcher from Boston, was beaten to death by a group of Whites in Selma. After returning to the church, a decision was made to file a legal action in federal court in order to obtain an injunction and restraining order that would allow the marchers to resume and complete their march. As result, a restraining order was issued and, on March 21, over 5000 marchers, led by King and Lewis and guarded by a contingent of 1900, deployed National Guard troops which was activated by President Lyndon Johnson, again crossed the famed bridge. Marchers succeeded in completing the historic 54-mile-long, Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March and Rally on March 25th. By the time marchers arrived in Montgomery, the size of the group had grown to over 25,000. The televised broadcasts of the Bloody Sunday attack was regularly repeated on the national news and directly paved that way for the quick enactment of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law by President Johnson on August 6, 1965. That legislation was designed to give declaratory voice to the mandated voting rights provisions contained in every State’s Constitution and to extend the guarantees of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution. IMPACT OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT Since 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been determined to be the most far-reaching and effective in civil and political rights history. The Act boldly declared that it was illegal to discriminate against African Americans, people of color and language speakers in their efforts to register and vote. Section 2 of the Act prohibited the denial and dilution of the right to vote and gave citizens the right to sue to remedy any voting related violation. Section 5 of the Act gave supervisory authority to the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure that any change in any voting related requirement which negatively impacted the exercise of voting rights and that occurred in “covered jurisdictions” be pre-cleared before taking effect. The Voting Rights Act also banned literacy tests and the imposition of poll taxes.
