Fifty years ago this Saturday, protesters marched on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to advocate for voting equality. The peaceful marchers were met with billy clubs and violence from Alabama state troopers, and media coverage of the event helped galvanize mass support around the Civil Rights Movement.
This weekend, a record number of lawmakers are traveling down to Selma to commemorate that day, including Delaware’ junior senator, Chris Coons (D-Delaware).
"I think this will be two days for reflection and remembrance, there will be a number of religious services at different churches," said Coons. "But it’s also an opportunity for us to talk with each other, Republicans and Democrats about the real divide over voting rights today."
Last year, Coons introduced a bill to update the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was a response to a 2013 Supreme Court decision that struck down portions of it, including a provision that nine states with a history of codified racism would need judicial approval before changing their voting laws.
No Republican was willing to co-sponsor that bill. Coons says he hopes this weekend offers an opportunity to sway several Republican legislators on hand to provide bipartisan support for it this year.
"I choose to be hopeful, and I am optimistic that this very powerful weekend of reflection will move some, where in the last Congress we weren’t able to to get any Republicans to agree, despite some accommodations in the language of the legislation," he said.
And while Coons says politicking is not the focus of this weekend, he says he'd be remiss not to bend the ears of his fellow lawmakers and that he's carrying a copy of the bill with him.
"There will also be opportunities over meals, while we're traveling from one place to another, and sit beside friends who I already know -- Republican senators. This is not a weekend dedicated to lobbying, but it would be hard to miss the historic importance of voting rights and the Voting Rights Act."
Coons will be accompanying the new ambassador from South Africa, Ambassador Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu to this weekend’s event. He says both countries share legacies of systemic racism.
