With a nod to ongoing US racial tension and threats to voting rights, President Barack Obama declared the work of the Civil Rights Movement advanced but unfinished on Saturday during a visit to the Alabama Bridge that spawned a landmark voting law.
A marcher carries a sign as he marches across the EdmundPettusBridge during the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Selma. Photograph: Tami Chappell/ Reuters
Obama, the first African-American president, said discrimination by law enforcement officers in Ferguson, Missouri, showed that a lot of work needs to be done on race in America, but he warned it was wrong to suggest that progress had not been made.
Original “foot soldiers” Dorothy Tillman Wright (C) who marched during Bloody Sunday shouts during a prayer at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Photograph: Tami Chappell/ Reuters
“Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer,” Obama said, standing near the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police and state troopers beat and fired tear gas at peaceful marchers who were advocating against racial discrimination at the voting booth.
A man hawks his t-shirts which say “Hands Up Don't Shoot” before the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Selma. Photograph: Tami Chappell/ Reuters
The event became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ and prompted a follow-up march led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. that spurred the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
US President Barack Obama participates in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma along with first lady Michelle Obama (L), former first lady Laura Bush (2nd R) and former president George W. Bush (R). Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
“Right now, in 2015, fifty years after Selma, there are laws across this country designed to make it harder for people to vote. As we speak, more of such laws are being proposed,” Obama said.
US President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, former first lady Laura Bush and former president George W. Bush at the 50th anniversary of the 'Bloody Sunday' march. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
“Meanwhile, the Voting Rights Act, the culmination of so much blood, so much sweat and tears, the product of so much sacrifice in the face of wanton violence ... stands weakened.”
President Obama participates in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
After his remarks, Obama and his wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, and mother-in-law Marian Robinson joined some of the original marchers along with former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, to walk across the bridge.
President Obama looks at exhibits including prison uniforms worn by civil rights activists as he tours the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
The marchers sang songs including “We Shall Overcome” as a crowd of some 40,000 people looked on.
With a nod to ongoing US racial tension and attempts to limit voting rights, Obama declared the work of the Civil Rights Movement advanced but unfinished on Saturday on a visit to the Alabama Bridge that spawned a landmark voting law. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
The anniversary comes at a time of renewed focus on racial disparities in the United States, including discrimination from police against black citizens nationwide.
People take pictures along the EdmundPettusBridge commemorating the 50th anniversary march in Selma, Alabama March. Photograph: Tami Chappell/ Reuters
