SELMA, Ala. -- Joe Biden received a warm reception Sunday as he and other Democratic presidential candidates appealed for black support in a town where demonstrators were once beaten for marching for the right to vote.
Themes of fighting voter suppression, providing the poor with a way to move up, and defeating President Donald Trump took center stage at events marking the 55th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the day in 1965 when white police attacked marchers in Selma. This year's commemoration came two days before Alabama Democrats join voters in more than a dozen states in the Super Tuesday cluster of primary elections.
Just hours after strong support by black voters in South Carolina lifted Biden to his first primary victory, the former vice president spoke during the morning worship at the historic Brown Chapel AME Church.
Cheers arose as Biden entered the sanctuary, and many in the congregation stood to applaud as he moved toward the pulpit. During a speech that featured quotes from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., former President Barack Obama and the Bible, Biden argued that the country has moved the wrong way under Trump.
"We've been dragged backward, and we've lost ground. We've seen all too clearly that if you give hate any breathing room, it comes back," he said.
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who split endorsements of Alabama's leading black political groups with Biden, received a lukewarm reception during a 10-minute talk at the pulpit. Bloomberg highlighted his ability as mayor to work with activist Al Sharpton, who was seated a few feet away.
"For too long we have gone on with just listening and letting the status quo continue," Bloomberg said. As he spoke, about 10 audience members stood and turned their backs toward him.
Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who was beaten in the Bloody Sunday fracas, made an appearance at the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to start an annual re-enactment of the 1965 march. Lewis' schedule has been limited since he announced earlier this year that he had advanced cancer.
Speaking to a crowd that included presidential candidates Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Lewis urged the throng to "never give in."
"Speak up, speak out, get in the way," Lewis said.
Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg was among the candidates who joined a crowd of thousands on the bridge, hours before ending his presidential campaign. Later, Warren and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota appeared at an afternoon forum. Tom Steyer also was in town, a day after suspending his campaign after a poor showing in South Carolina.
Rep. Terri Sewell, the lone black member of Alabama's congressional delegation, urged hundreds of people attending a community breakfast to vote for Biden and enable "a return to civility."
"Joe Biden not only knows me, he knows you," she said.
On March 7, 1965, Alabama state troopers beat and tear-gassed hundreds of voting-rights demonstrators trying to march from Selma to Montgomery, the capital. Only 25 at the time and years away from joining Congress, Lewis led the marchers and was among the injured.
The confrontation set the stage for the Selma-to-Montgomery voting-rights march led by King weeks later, and it helped inspire passage of the Voting Rights Act that year.
The years since have been tough on Selma, where closed businesses and vacant, dilapidated homes stand just blocks from antebellum mansions. The city and surrounding Dallas County typically have some of the highest jobless rates in the state.
The town's population is steadily declining, and census statistics show that 41% of the estimated 17,800 people who remain live in poverty. About 82% of the town's residents are black, and schools and neighborhoods are mostly divided by race, with blacks attending public schools and whites attending private academies. Crime, much of it linked to gangs, is a constant problem, authorities say.
Selma Mayor Darrio Melton endorsed Biden as someone who could help. "Joe understands the issues families in Selma and communities across the country face," he said.
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Located about 50 miles west of Montgomery, Selma has deep ties to both civil rights and the Civil War. Aside from being the site of Bloody Sunday, the Edmund Pettus Bridge is named after a Confederate general and U.S. senator who advocated for white supremacy.
A Section on 03/02/2020