Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks on Bloody Sunday at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama; Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama, and again at Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast 2024. While “Bloody Sunday” occurred on March 7, 1965, Sunday falls on March 3rd this year. March 3, 2024 is when we observe remembrance of what happened in Selma, Alabama, almost 60 years ago.
Source: US Department of Justice (Remarks delivered March 3, 2024)
Photo: Courtesy National Museum of African American History & Culture
[Photo Caption: A black-and-white photograph of the March 7, 1965 assault on Civil Rights marchers by Alabama state police officers termed “Bloody Sunday.” The troopers, wearing gas masks and brandishing nightsticks, set upon marchers along US Highway 80. Credit: © 1965 Spider Martin]
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Deliver Remarks on Bloody Sunday at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama.
Remarks as Delivered
Good morning. Thank you, Pastor Culliver, for having me today. And thank you for having Kristen Clarke, our great Civil Rights Assistant Attorney General.
We are so grateful to be here with this congregation and this community.
The Justice Department owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the courageous activists who marched here in Selma 59 years ago. And to those who will march today.
There are many things that are open to debate in America. One thing that must not be open for debate is the right of all eligible citizens to vote and to have their vote counted.
The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all others flow. It is a right that members of this community bled for.
And yet, progress in protecting the right to vote — especially for Black Americans — has never been steady.
Indeed, throughout our country’s history — before Bloody Sunday, and after — the right to vote in America has been under attack.
It was under attack in the wake of the Civil War and amidst Reconstruction, when white supremacists used violence and threats of violence to stop Black Americans from exercising their right to vote.
It was at that time that the Department of Justice was founded, with the principal purpose of protecting the rights guaranteed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. And in those first years the Justice Department was founded, it by successfully prosecuting more than a thousand members of the Ku Klux Klan.
But the right to vote was still under attack nearly a century later, when Black residents trying to register to vote in this county, and in jurisdictions across the country, were required to take nearly impossible tests that were designed to ensure that they fail.
And the right to vote was under attack on Sunday, March 7, 1965, when civil rights activists set out to march from Selma to Montgomery and were met with horrific violence.
The marchers’ courage helped usher into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which gave the Justice Department important authorities to protect the right to vote.
Because of that law, between 1965 and 2006, the Justice Department was able to block more than 1,200 restrictive voting changes in jurisdictions with a history of suppressing the vote.
But as you well know, court decisions in recent years have drastically weakened the protections of the Voting Rights Act that marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge bled for 59 years ago.
And since those decisions, there has been a dramatic increase in legislative measures that make it harder for millions of eligible voters to vote and to elect the representatives of their choice.
Those measures include practices and procedures that make voting more difficult; redistricting maps that disadvantage minorities; and changes in voting administration that diminish the authority of locally elected or nonpartisan election administrators.
Such measures threaten the foundation of our system of government.
Some have even suggested giving state legislatures the power to set aside the choice of the voters themselves.
That is not the way a representative democracy is supposed to work.
The right to vote is still under attack.
And that is why the Justice Department is fighting back.
That is why, one of the first things I did as Attorney General was to double the number of lawyers in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division.
That is why we are challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.
That is why we are working to block the adoption of discriminatory redistricting plans that dilute the vote of Black voters and other voters of color.
We are holding accountable jurisdictions that fail to provide accessible vote centers for voters with disabilities.
We are defending the ability of private individuals — not just the government — to bring lawsuits under the key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
We are joining with community groups and civil rights organizations across the country by intervening in cases to defend the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition on voter intimidation. And to defend the Act’s bar against voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race or color.
There is so much more to do.
Yet, these are not the only threats our democracy is facing.
Today, threats to the right to vote have expanded to target not just the voters themselves, but the citizens we rely on to fairly administer voting. Not just elected officials, not just paid administrators, but also the local volunteers who ensure that voting is available in every precinct.
That is why I launched the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force to combat threats against election workers.
That is why we are aggressively investigating and prosecuting those who threaten election workers with violence.
Just last Tuesday, for example, an Indiana man pled guilty to threatening to kill an election worker in Michigan, falsely claiming that the worker had “frauded out America of a real election.” And just last Thursday, we arrested a California man who transmitted a violent threat against an Arizona election official, while falsely accusing that official of “cheating the election.”
Our democracy cannot function if the public servants and civic-minded citizens who administer our elections fear for their lives.
The Justice Department recognizes the urgency of this moment.
Defending democracy was the Justice Department’s founding purpose. And it is the foundation of everything we do today.
We recognize that community and civic leaders here, and across the country, are advancing that work, day in, and day out.
Our commitment to you is that we will never stop working with you, and for you, to ensure that every eligible voter can cast a vote that counts.
In an editorial published shortly after his death — and 55 years after he led marchers to the Edmund Pettus Bridge — John Lewis recalled an important lesson taught by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Democracy is not a state,” he said. “It is an act. And each generation must do its part.”
We promise you that we will do our part.
This generation’s Justice Department knows that you are doing your part.
We know that our democracy depends on it.
Thank you.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks on Bloody Sunday at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama
Remarks as Delivered
Good morning! This is the day that the Lord hath made. Thank you so much, Ryan [Haygood], for all that you do to advance the cause of justice across our country. And thank you, Pastor [Leodis] Strong, for opening up this space to me and to all of us today.
Again, my name is Kristen Clarke, I’m the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and it truly is an honor to have this opportunity to address all of you in this historic place today.
I stand here this morning to let you know that 59 years after the events of Bloody Sunday, your Justice Department, the U.S. Department of Justice stands steadfast in our commitment to protect the civil rights of all those who call this great country home.
We are working tirelessly to prosecute and prevent hate crimes, which have soared to the highest levels in decades. Since January of 2021, we have charged more than 115 defendants in more than 100 cases. This includes federal hate crimes charges brought against the man responsible for the heinous murder of 10 Black people at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York. We do this work because we must honor the legacy of those massacred during the Tulsa Race Riots, because of Emmett Till, because of Medgar Evers and the four Little Girls killed in Birmingham, because of James Byrd. We prioritize this work because racially motivated, white supremacist, hate-fueled violence has no place in our society today. And we have an obligation to use the law to hold perpetrators of these crimes accountable.
Our efforts to address the unfinished business of equal justice extend to other areas as well. Indeed, one of our highest obligations is holding law enforcement officials accountable when they violate our civil rights, including the officers responsible for the deaths of Tyre Nichols, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
We are also investigating police departments and opening pattern and practice investigations to promote constitutional policing and to address systemic violations of people’s civil rights.
And then there are our jails and prisons. And sadly, we remain the incarceration capital of the world. We are confronting head on the unconstitutional and inhumane conditions that we see inside too many of our jails and prisons. Just last week, we announced our findings regarding three Mississippi state prisons where some people are locked down in cells for 23 hours or more per day, and where severe staffing shortages have led to violence, inmate deaths and rapes by [knifepoint]. We have a duty to ensure the inherent human dignity and worth of everyone in our county. People do not surrender their civil rights at the jailhouse door.
We are taking on banks that engage in modern-day redlining because we can no longer tolerate lenders that deny Black people equal access to credit and rob communities of the opportunity to amass generational wealth. Under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is here with us in Selma today, we launched the Combating Redlining Initiative in the fall of 2021 and in just over two short years, we have acted against 13 banks or financial institutions and have secured over $122 million in relief for impacted communities of color.
We are fighting for environmental justice right down the road in Lowndes County, Alabama, and just last year we secured a groundbreaking settlement with the State of Alabama to ensure that all residents in Lowndes have access to safe and effective septic and wastewater management systems. Whether you are talking about lead-laced water, illegal dumping or exposure to raw sewage, we cannot tolerate this injustice in the 21st century.
And, of course, we are working hard to protect the sacred right to vote — the impetus for the March to Montgomery on that fateful day 59 years ago. The vicious attacks that the marchers endured at the bridge galvanized support for our nation’s most important federal civil rights law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Ten days after the attacks, the bill was signed into law with ink in Washington, D.C., but we can’t forget that it was signed with blood, the blood of the foot soldiers who courageously put their lives on the line right here in Selma. This sacred law has protected access to the ballot box for Black people and communities of color, and even while we call on Congress to fully restore the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department stands ready to use this law to confront voter suppression and voting discrimination across the country.
Yet as I stand before you today, I won’t deny the reality. The forces of hatred and bigotry are strong. Despite our resolute efforts, they lurk in the dark recesses of tainted hearts, and re-emerge in times like these. We continue to witness the acts of unspeakable hate-fueled violence and brutality; Black Americans still remain the most frequent victims of hate crimes, and we are also seeing dramatic increases of antisemitic violence, anti-Muslim violence, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian violence, and attacks on people because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. We have seen states and localities open the floodgates of voter suppression, coming up with new pretexts and obstacles to make it harder for us, for people of color to engage in our democratic process. And far too many in this country continue to endure the legacy of racism, bigotry and white supremacy.
But it is in these moments that I remember Congressman John Lewis, who in 2015 at the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, reminded us that, “There is still work left to be done,” and he urged all of us to “[g]et out there and push and pull, until we redeem the soul of America.”
And today, the soul of America is still not redeemed. Despite the progress that has been made, there is still much work that remains to be done. And so, we come again to Selma for renewal and inspiration. Selma reminds us that even in the darkest days and during troubling times, that we cannot give up our work. Selma reminds us that the actions taken by those courageous men and women – those foot soldiers for justice – who marched, bled and died to secure the right to vote, their efforts were not in vain. Selma reminds us that to honor their memory and their sacrifice requires us to keep our hand to the plow, to continue the fight and to continue our march.
On this day, I also think of the Apostle Paul, who told us that though “we may be troubled on every side,” we are “not distressed.” That even when “we are perplexed,” that we are nevertheless “not in despair.” That even though we may be “persecuted,” we are “not forsaken;” we may be “cast down,” but we’re “not destroyed.”
And so today, we, the collective we, rededicate ourselves to this mission. Keep pushing. Keep fighting. Keep marching. Know that the Justice Department is by your side. Thank you.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks at Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast 2024
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Good morning! Today, we celebrate the courage, the tenacity and moral vision of the civil rights warriors who marched into history 59 years ago at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. My name is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department and I am proud to be here with all of you today, with Senator Sanders, Fire Rose, members of Congress, faith leaders, public officials, civil rights trailblazers, leaders and foot soldiers here in this room today.
Now as Attorney General Merrick Garland often reminds the public one of the founding principles of the Justice Department was to counter violence and terrorism from the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations that were bent on using violence to deny Black people the right to vote and the ability exercise other civil rights.
Today, that mission remains central to the mission of the Justice Department. I am proud to stand here before you, representing the one federal agency with a moral value in its name.
The second book of Psalm states that “righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.” I am here this morning to provide you an update on the work of the Justice Department to promote racial justice and equity across out country. The legacy of the foot soldiers is enshrined in the laws that undergird our work. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and more and we use these tools every day to confront discrimination and advance equal opportunity in employment, housing, education and more.
We have fought for environmental justice. We have fought to protect victims of sexual assault and harassment. We have vindicated the rights of people subjected to modern-day redlining, securing more than $122 million in relief for victims of discrimination in lending.
We are taking on the unconstitutional conditions that we see inside our jails and prisons here in Alabama, in Mississippi, in Texas, South Carolina, Georgia and more.
We have required that police carry out their jobs lawfully and without bias, prosecuting officers tied to the tragic deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Tyre Nichols in Memphis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville. And we have investigated law enforcement agencies — from Louisville to Louisiana, Mississippi to Memphis.
We have fought a pitched battle against the spreading scourge of hate crimes, charging more than 115 defendants for hate crimes in more than 100 cases since January 2021, including the defendant responsible for the heinous murder of 10 Black people at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, New York. But sadly the number of hate crimes continues to rise, to the highest level in decades. 60% of these crimes involve race, and Black people are the group most frequently targeted. Antisemitic, Islamophobic, anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian and anti-LGBTQI+ crimes have also soared. But our fight against hate crimes is driven by one core fundamental principle: no one should have to live in fear because of who they are, where they come from, how they worship or whom they love.
At this time and in this place, though, I would be remiss if I did not underscore our work to ensure that every eligible American has voice in our democracy. The March from Selma to Montgomery, after all, was about the right to vote, and it is the right that Dr. King called “the highest mandate of our democratic tradition.” And sadly, it is in jeopardy.
Voter suppression efforts are rampant across the country.
The Justice Department has vigorously challenged this wave of discrimination, bringing lawsuits in places like Georgia, Texas, Arizona and more. But we need your help. We need you to challenge voting discrimination and voter suppression when it rears its ugly head in your communities, and we need all of you to continue to call on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act.
Let me be clear. This is a call to action — a call for all of us to take up the banner of our fallen heroes, to sanctify their legacy with both our words and our actions and to do all we can to uphold the right to vote.
Know that the U.S. Department of Justice will stand by your side very step of this journey.
Thank you so much for having me with you today.
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