MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) 鈥� Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement to mobilize a new voting rights era as conservative states dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called Montgomery 鈥渟acred soil鈥� in the fight for civil rights.
鈥淚f we in our generation do not now do our duty, we will lose the gains and the rights and the liberties that our ancestors afforded us,鈥� Booker said.
The crowd was led in chants of 鈥渨e won鈥檛 go back鈥� and 鈥渨e fight.鈥�
鈥淲e are not going down without a fight. We are not going down to Jim Crow maps,鈥� Shalela Dowdy, a plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case said.
A crowd of thousands gathered in front of the city鈥檚 historic Alabama Capitol, the place where the Confederacy was formed in 1861 and where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in 1965 at the end of the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. The stage, set in front of the Capitol, was flanked from behind by statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and civil rights icon Rosa Parks 鈥� dueling tributes erected nearly 90 years apart.
Speakers said the spot was once the temple of the Confederacy and became the holy ground of the Civil Rights Movement.
Some in the crowd said the effort to redraw lines has echoes of the past.
鈥淲e lived through the ’60s. It takes you back. When you think that Alabama鈥檚 moving forward, it takes two steps back,鈥� said Camellia A Hooks, 70, of Montgomery, Alabama.
The rally began in Selma, where a violent clash between law enforcement and voting rights activists in 1965 galvanized support for passage of the Voting Rights Act. It then moved to the state Capitol, where King gave his 鈥淗ow Long, Not Long鈥� speech that same year.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving Louisiana hollowed out voting rights law that was already weakened by a separate decision in 2013 and then narrowed further over the years. That helped clear the way for stricter voter ID laws, registration restrictions, and limits on early voting and polling place changes, including in states that once needed federal preclearance before they could change voting laws because of their historical discrimination against Black voters.
Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are alarmed by the speed of the rollbacks, noting that protections won through generations of sacrifice have been weakened in little more than a decade.
Kirk Carrington, 75, was a teen in 1965 when law enforcement officers attacked marchers in Selma on what became known as 鈥淏loody Sunday.鈥� A white man on a horse wielding a stick chased Carrington through the streets.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really just appalling to me and all the young people that marched during the 鈥�60s, fought hard to get voting rights, equal rights and civil rights,鈥� Carrington said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sad that it鈥檚 continuing after 60-plus-odd years that we are still fighting for the same thing we fought for back then.鈥�
City will be affected by Supreme Court ruling
Montgomery is home to one of the congressional districts that is being altered in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
A federal court in 2023 redrew Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District after ruling that the state the voting power of Black residents, who make up about 27% of its population. The court said there should be a district where Black people are a majority or near-majority and have an opportunity to elect their candidate of choice.
But the Supreme Court cleared the way for a different map that could let the GOP reclaim the seat. While the matter remains under litigation, the state plans special primaries Aug. 11 under the new map.
Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, who won election in the district in 2024, said the dispute is not about him but rather people’s opportunity to have representation.
鈥淲hen Republicans are literally turning back the clock on what representation, what the faces of representation, look like, what the opportunities, legitimate opportunities for representation look like across this country, then I think it starts to resonate with people in a little bit of a different way,鈥� Figures said.
Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, a Republican, said the Louisiana ruling provided an opportunity to revisit a map that was forced on the state by the federal court.
鈥淧eople tend to forget what happened. When this thing went to court, the Republican Party had that seat, congressional seat two,鈥� Ledbetter said last week. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a push through the courts to try to overtake some of these red state seats, and that鈥檚 certainly what happened in that one.鈥�
Evan Milligan, the lead plaintiff in the Alabama redistricting case, said there is grief over the implosion of the Voting Rights Act but it is crucial that people recommit to the fight.
鈥淲e have to accept that this is the new reality, whether we like it or not,鈥� Milligan said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to accept that this will be the reality for the next 10 years or two years or forever.鈥�
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