Republican lawmakers in states across the South are rushing to draw new congressional maps that weaken Black political power by eliminating majority-Black districts. This historic site is once again part of the Black struggle for voting rights.
On May 16, protestors and activists met on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, hallowed ground of the Civil Rights Era. With the April 29 Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act, many people are saying that we have entered the era of Jim Crow 2.0.
They walked the same route across the bridge that 600 freedom fighters marched on March 7, 1965. Wielding billy clubs, tear gas, and whips, Alabama state troopers attacked, knocking marchers to the ground to the cheers of white supremacists waving Confederate flags. Undeterred, the marchers arrived at the Capitol steps on March 25. On August 6, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.
The next struggle was over fair access to voting. And today, the struggle is for representation with redrawn congressional maps. But the fight and the enemy are the same.
The U.S. was built on anti-Blackness. From slavery through voting rights, the struggle for Black liberation has never ended. Our rights have never been handed to us. Our ancestors fought for them. We must carry their energy now. The fight won’t be easy, but we’re worth it.