On 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday, worries about the future of voting rights and calls to action

Source: AP

By KIM CHANDLER
Updated 5:40 PM CDT, March 8, 2026
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SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Sixty-one years after state troopers attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, thousands gathered in the Alabama city this weekend amid new concerns about the future of the Voting Rights Act.

The March 7, 1965, violence that became known as Bloody Sunday shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the landmark legislation that dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South.

The anniversary was celebrated in this southern city, that served as crucible for the voting rights movement, with events through the weekend and ending with a commemorative march across the bridge Sunday. But the commemoration came as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could limit a provision of the Voting Rights Act that has helped ensure some congressional and local districts are drawn so minority voters have a chance to elect their candidate of choice.

“I’m concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated,” said Charles Mauldin, 78, one of the marchers beaten on Bloody Sunday.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/alabama-selma-bloody-sunday-anniversary-fced6bc2794576b8ed20b3ef1223155e