President Obama and the first family commemorates 50th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’

Today marks 50 years of the courageous efforts of Martin Luther King Jr., activists, and concerned community members known as Bloody Sunday.

About Bloody Sunday

In 1965, they marched to ensure equal voting rights for African Americans during the time of a segregation system that wanted to make it impossible for them to do so.

Many of them were beaten and bloodied, but they kept on marching. Because of their courageous efforts, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was soon passed months later.

Obama And First Family Commemorate Bloody Sunday

To mark the 50th Anniversary, the First Family visited Selma, AL. President Obama spoke in front of thousands to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the events of  in which was called“Bloody Sunday”.

The president was joined by a host of political and key civil rights movement figures as thousands gathered to hear him speak. Former president George W. Bush, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King III were among those in attendance.

During his speech, which comes days after the Justice Department heavily criticized the Ferguson Police Department for its racial discrimination, President Obama spoke on racial progress but also rejected the idea that America is post-racial.

“Just this week, I was asked whether I thought the Department of Justice’s Ferguson report shows that, with respect to race, little has changed in this country. I understand the question, for the report’s narrative was woefully familiar. It evoked the kind of abuse and disregard for citizens that spawned the Civil Rights Movement. But I rejected the notion that nothing’s changed. What happened in Ferguson may not be unique, but it’s no longer endemic, or sanctioned by law and custom; and before the Civil Rights Movement, it most surely was.

Of course, a more common mistake is to suggest that racism is banished, that the work that drew men and women to Selma is complete, and that whatever racial tensions remain are a consequence of those seeking to play the “race card” for their own purposes. We don’t need the Ferguson report to know that’s not true. We just need to open our eyes, and ears, and hearts, to know that this nation’s racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. We know the march is not yet over, the race is not yet won, and that reaching that blessed destination where we are judged by the content of our character – requires admitting as much.“

Read the President Obama’s full speech here