Susan ClaryI finally saw “Selma.” The Oscar-nominated film depicts Dr. Martin Luther King’s push for passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act – the federal legislation that was a crowning achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. Many protesters, both black and white, were sacrificed during the brutal efforts to make the 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital.
The 1987 PBS documentary “Eyes on the Prize” chronicled the event. However, this movie starring David Oyelowo as King and directed by Ava DuVernay reveals the powerful and moving story behind Dr. King’s efforts to grab the nation’s attention.
Alabama Gov. George Wallace ordered state troopers to stop civil rights marchers trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge out of Selma. On March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday, the country watched live as 600 marchers were badly beaten by state troopers with nightsticks and tear gas. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who refused to make voting rights a priority, relented and signed the landmark legislation.
In many ways, Alabama remains frozen in time. Almost 50 years later, Gov. Robert Bentley walks a tightrope on the issue of gay marriage, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy S. Moore channels Wallace perpetuating the state’s shameful history of prejudice and discrimination.
Moore is pushing Bentley to support the gay marriage ban in opposition to federal judges who deemed it unconstitutional. Moore ordered state judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
“As of Friday, 17 of Alabama’s 67 counties refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Sadly, at least five are not issuing any licenses. Many judges are torn between the Chief Justice and the federal courts. A number of conservative organizations have filed appeals.”
Florida is not much better. The state has a long and embarrassing history of suppressing the black vote – one that continues. In addition, Florida is one of only three states in the country – alongside Alabama and Mississippi – that has a legal state holiday honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Virginia’s Confederate leader Robert E. Lee and Confederate Memorial Day. These only serve as painful and powerful reminders of slavery. It has been 100 years since the cornerstone was laid for the Lincoln Memorial.
Florida’s repression is alive and well in other ways. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Gov. Rick Scott fought tooth and nail to keep the state’s gay marriage ban intact. As other states were legalizing gay marriage at lightning speed, Florida was spending thousands of taxpayer dollars on protracted legal battles to keep the ban. Though gay marriage became legal in Florida on January 6, clerks in at least 13 counties refuse to perform ceremonies in their courthouses.
Today, 13 states still have bans on same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to rule in June that no state can restrict marriage to heterosexual couples – making the ban unconstitutional everywhere.
Don’t think for a minute the gay rights movement has been without bloodshed. Hundreds of hate crimes against gays are reported nationally every year – and always include murder. Indeed, recent clashes between black men and cops are reminders that having a black president does not mean it’s over. There is still far to go to erase prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. It’s a safe bet that 50 years from now, they will be making another Oscar-nominated film.
Susan Clary worked as a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times and Orlando Sentinel. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
