That evening, several local whites attacked James Reeb , a white Unitarian minister who had come from Massachusetts to join the protest. His death two days later contributed to the rising national concern over the situation in Alabama. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. The following day Selma demonstrators submitted a detailed march plan to Judge Johnson, who approved the demonstration and enjoined Governor Wallace and local law enforcement from harassing or threatening marchers.
On 17 March Johnson submitted voting rights legislation to Congress. The federally sanctioned march left Selma on 21 March. Protected by hundreds of federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, the demonstrators covered between 7 to 17 miles per day.
And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. Afterward a delegation of march leaders attempted to deliver a petition to Governor Wallace, but were rebuffed. That night, while ferrying Selma demonstrators back home from Montgomery, Viola Liuzzo, a housewife from Michigan who had come to Alabama to volunteer, was shot and killed by four members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Voting Rights Act was designed to eliminate legal barriers at the state and local level that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the 15th Amendment — after nearly a century of unconstitutional discrimination. Last month, the President invited a number of people connected to the marches to attend a Black History Month reception here at the White House. We talked with some of them about their experiences -- and their stories are nothing short of inspirational.
Some of them also gave us their thoughts on the challenges facing today's generation:. On August 6, — just a few months after the march — President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, to prohibit racial discrimination in voting.
The act itself has been called the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever passed by Congress. But the work is far from done. Today's generation still faces a number of challenges, and we must be as committed to change today as we were then.
Skip to Content Skip to Navigation. In a group of community activists formed the "Dallas County Improvement Association" with the goal of having "White" and "Colored" signs removed from public buildings, an investigation of police brutality against blacks, and increased access to jobs and voter registration.
Local officials ignored the Association's concerns. The mayor of Selma, along with the chief of police, kept the government response mild. The mayor did not want the bad publicity that violent confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement officials would bring. Selma's sheriff, Jim Clark -- infamous for leading a band of thuggish irregulars in the oppression of blacks -- had told the mayor he would not involve himself in the demonstrations in Selma.
However, demonstrations in the town of Marion, twenty-five miles northwest of Selma, were another matter. Civil rights organizers there, discouraged by their lack of progress in getting county officials to register black voters, requested help from the SCLC. After an emotional night rally at a Marion church, SCLC staffers led an impromptu march to the Marion courthouse just a few blocks away.
The marchers were met by a force of , made up of state troopers, county deputy sheriffs, local policemen, civilians, and Sheriff Jim Clark. With national and local journalists looking on, the marchers were ordered to disperse. A project through the African American Civil Rights Grant Program , which works to document, interpret, and preserve the sites and stories related to the African American struggle to gain equal rights, recently funded work to document the condition of the Edmund Pettis Bridge in prepatation for future rehabilitation work.
Visit the National Park Service We Shall Overcome travel itinerary to learn more about the civil rights movement themes and histories. Also, be sure to check out Civil Rights subject site.
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