Biden takes campaign to site of historic voting rights protest
Joe Biden received a warm reception yesterday in this crucible of the civil rights movement as he and other Democratic presidential hopefuls 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 up and defeating President Donald Trump took center stage at events marking the 55th anniversary of ‘‘Bloody Sunday,’’ the day in 1965 white police attacked black 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 historic Brown Chapel AME Church.
An excited buzz and cheers arose as Biden entered the sanctuary, and many in the congregation stood to applaud as he moved toward the pulpit. Quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., former President Barack Obama and the Bible, Biden said 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 Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who split endorsements of leading black political groups in Alabama with Biden, received a lukewarm reception during a 10-minute talk at the pulpit, with some church members turning their backs on him. Bloomberg highlighted his ability as mayor of New York to work with activist Al Sharpton, 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, who was beaten in the Bloody Sunday fracas, made a surprise appearance at the apex of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to start an annual re-enactment of the ‘65 march. Lewis’ schedule has been limited since he announced earlier this year he had advanced cancer.
Speaking to a massive crowd crowd that included Bloomberg and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Lewis urged the throng to ‘‘never give in.’’
‘‘Speak up, speak out, get in the way,’’ Lewis said.
Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was among the candidates who joined crowd of thousands on the bridge.
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 teargassed 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. –AP