SELMA, Ala. — Thousands gathered in Selma, Alabama this weekend to commemorate the 61st anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when state troopers attacked civil rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. The violence shocked the nation and helped spur passage of the Voting Rights Act, which dismantled barriers to voting for Black Americans in the Jim Crow South.

This year's anniversary comes as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a Louisiana case that could limit a provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring some congressional and local districts to be drawn so minority voters can elect their preferred candidates. A ruling restricting the role of race in redistricting could allow Republican-controlled states to redraw majority Black and Latino districts that typically favor Democrats.

Charles Mauldin, 78, who was among the marchers beaten that day, expressed concern about potential rollbacks. "I'm concerned that all of the advances that we made for the last 61 years are going to be eradicated," said Mauldin, who was 17 and part of the third pair of marchers behind leaders John Lewis and Hosea Williams when troopers attacked with billy clubs and tear gas.

Former state Sen. Hank Sanders, who helped establish the annual commemoration, described current concerns as "a profound fear that we will be taken back — a greater fear than at any time since 1965." The weekend's events include a commemorative march across the bridge on Sunday.

U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, who won election in 2024 to an Alabama district redrawn by federal court order, emphasized that progress from the Civil Rights Movement "is not perpetual" and has faced "consistent attacks almost since we've gotten those rights." Democratic officials and civil rights leaders attending the commemoration have issued calls to continue fighting for voting protections, drawing parallels to the persistence shown by the original marchers.