THE WALK TO FREEDOM
By Audrey
On March 21, 1965, 3,200 marchers walked from Selma to Montgomery to peacefully protest against the lack of voting rights for black citizens. This was the third attempt to march for voting rights. The first was known as Bloody Sunday. Marchers did not have a permit to march, but headed over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the end of the bridge, white police officers mounted on horses waited with billy clubs, batons and tear gas. The officers told marchers to disperse; however, they refused. The police attacked and brutally beat the marchers. Thirteen died that day, and another died later due to injuries.
The second attempt to march was called Turn Around Tuesday. This time, as marchers approached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the police in view, Martin Luther King led the marchers back home. Police wanted to stop the marchers because if they succeeded, whites would no longer have control over the government.
On the third attempt, however, protestors received a permit and protection from the federal government. The marchers were able to walk the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery and attract a crowd of 25,000 people.
Our class was lucky enough to visit Selma and learn more about the voting rights movement first hand. When we arrived there were obvious changes—no segregated bathrooms, one drinking fountain for all—however, even 53 years later, assumptions based on race are still present. Marcus, a local resident who spoke in an article published in The Guardian News (2016) has lived in Selma his whole life and explains the lack of change since the march for equality. According to Marcus, “Everyone always saying we don’t have jobs because of things we lack, but it ain’t what we lack, it’s what we have: black skin” (Arnade, 2016). Another local resident, Council McReynolds, explains how the situation changed after the town elected a black mayor. McReynolds states, “All the factories that used to be here are closed: the candy factory, the furniture company, they all picked up and moved when we elected a black mayor” (Arnade, 2016). As Selma teaches us, we have made progress, but together as a nation, we are still a long way from achieving Martin Luther King’s goal of equality for all.
The second attempt to march was called Turn Around Tuesday. This time, as marchers approached the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the police in view, Martin Luther King led the marchers back home. Police wanted to stop the marchers because if they succeeded, whites would no longer have control over the government.
On the third attempt, however, protestors received a permit and protection from the federal government. The marchers were able to walk the 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery and attract a crowd of 25,000 people.
Our class was lucky enough to visit Selma and learn more about the voting rights movement first hand. When we arrived there were obvious changes—no segregated bathrooms, one drinking fountain for all—however, even 53 years later, assumptions based on race are still present. Marcus, a local resident who spoke in an article published in The Guardian News (2016) has lived in Selma his whole life and explains the lack of change since the march for equality. According to Marcus, “Everyone always saying we don’t have jobs because of things we lack, but it ain’t what we lack, it’s what we have: black skin” (Arnade, 2016). Another local resident, Council McReynolds, explains how the situation changed after the town elected a black mayor. McReynolds states, “All the factories that used to be here are closed: the candy factory, the furniture company, they all picked up and moved when we elected a black mayor” (Arnade, 2016). As Selma teaches us, we have made progress, but together as a nation, we are still a long way from achieving Martin Luther King’s goal of equality for all.