President Obama speaks in Selma: 'Our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer'
President Barack Obama spoke in Selma, Alabama, on Saturday afternoon, paying tribute to some 600 peaceful protesters who were attacked by Alabama state troopers while marching for voting rights 50 years ago this weekend.
"There are places and moments in America where this nation's destiny has been decided,” Obama said. "Selma is such a place… We have to recognize that one day's commemoration, no matter how special, is not enough. If Selma taught us anything, it's that our work is never done.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But, "we just need to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to know that this nations' racial history still casts its long shadow upon us,” he said. "Our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer.”
To that end, Obama encouraged lawmakers to support renewal of the Voting Rights Act, which he said still faces hurdles, and he encouraged all Americans but especially young people to embrace "the imperative of citizenship.”
Read the full transcript of the president's speech, as it was prepared for delivery, over at Time.
-
How the FCC’s ‘equal time’ rule worksIn the Spotlight The law is at the heart of the Colbert-CBS conflict
-
What is the endgame in the DHS shutdown?Today’s Big Question Democrats want to rein in ICE’s immigration crackdown
-
‘Poor time management isn’t just an inconvenience’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Witkoff and Kushner tackle Ukraine, Iran in GenevaSpeed Read Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held negotiations aimed at securing a nuclear deal with Iran and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine
-
Pentagon spokesperson forced out as DHS’s resignsSpeed Read Senior military adviser Col. David Butler was fired by Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin is resigning
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
