Selma and the Voting Rights Act

By the mid-1960s, the civil rights movement had been alive for many years and had achieved a fair amount of success in guaranteeing the rights of all Americans to equality and justice. But throughout much of the country, especially in the South, racism still prevailed and African Americans remained unable to vote, driven away from voter registration by complex and arbitrary regulations designed only to deny black voters any power or influence. In 1965, activists, led by Martin Luther King Jr., gathered in Selma, Alabama, where they planned to aggressively protest the voting injustice. Selma was a particularly notorious city, lorded over by racist and authoritarian sheriff Jim Clark. Clark and his allies in Selma, including Alabama governor George Wallace, were determined to stop the civil rights movement and ensure that blacks in Alabama would never have the same rights. Before long, the peaceful marches organized to protest injustice were met with brutal violence, and civil rights activists-men, women, and children gathered from around the country-were beaten, arrested, and sometimes killed. But the savage violence and cruelty was captured by TV cameras and journalists, and before long, the racism and hatred was known throughout America. People all over the nation joined King and those marching in Selma in demanding justice for all, and an end to the hatred that was tearing the country apart. Book jacket.