Fight over voting rights continues on Selma anniversary

With tens of thousands of people expected to gather this weekend in Selma, Ala., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the American Civil Rights movement, activists hope to use the moment to turn the spotlight back on voting rights issues in the USA.

President Obama will visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Saturday, joining living foot soldiers of the civil rights movement at the landmark. The bridge is where hundreds of peaceful protesters were brutally beaten on "Bloody Sunday" as they sought to end discriminatory tactics — such as poll taxes and arbitrary literacy tests — used by white officials to prevent African Americans from voting.

The protesters of Selma ultimately prevailed, and the moment helped usher in the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. But in moves that activists call sweeping erosions of voting rights that disproportionately affect minority communities, several states have passed more stringent voter ID rules after the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down a key provision of the landmark legislation that was birthed with the blood and sweat of the Selma protesters.

With the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Voting Rights Act formula used to determine which parts of the country would need federal approval — known as preclearance — to change their voting procedures was outdated. The court instructed Congress to write a new formula that was reflective of current conditions, but Congress has yet to act.

Since the court ruling, legislatures — including those in North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin — have passed measures that require voter ID or proof of citizenship and have reduced early voting days and poll locations.

"We're celebrating something that has been neutered," said James Perkins, who was elected as Selma's first African-American mayor nearly 25 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed. "That is exactly what it feels like. You've kicked the teeth out of a lion."

Activists will have plenty of opportunities to make their argument as dozens of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle come to Selma for the jubilee, which includes a BET-sponsored concert, a re-enactment of the "turnaround Tuesday" march that was led the by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. two days after Bloody Sunday, and a series of forums on such issues as poverty and the scourge of drugs and mass incarceration in the black community.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, are also scheduled to travel to Selma for the commemoration.

Local leaders also plan to use the moment to highlight the current plight of Selma, which suffers from high levels of poverty, unemployment and violent crime. To that end, Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat whose district includes Selma, is taking Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro on a "listening tour" of three of the city's public housing sites.

But the current-day fight over voting rights will have prominence.

"We have witnessed over the last few years, the worst assault on voting rights since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965," said the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who leads the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. "Come this weekend we'll see a parade of politicians make their way to Selma. Our message to those politicians is that you cannot celebrate the lessons of history while sitting on the wrong side of history."

In a meeting with black clergy and community leaders last week, Obama suggested that he would hit on the voting rights theme when he speaks at Selma. Obama has paid homage to the civil rights era leaders before, noting that his path to the Oval Office would not have been possible had it not been for the work done by activists like the Rev. Martin Luther King, Rep. John Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian who stood their ground at Selma.

Alabama state Sen. Hank Sanders, a Democrat who represents Selma, said it's critical for people to keep in mind the blood that was shed 50 years ago as they continue the current fights on voting rights.

"It's really good to commemorate and celebrate, but the most important thing for me is to come out of this commemoration determined to restore the Voting Rights Act and to stop the attacks on voting rights," Sanders said.