Civil Rights Leaders Urge Extension of Voting Rights Act at March

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Civil Rights Leaders Urge Extension of Voting Rights Act at March Re-Enactment

By Samira Jafari Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 12, 2005


MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Black politicians must urge Congress to extend the Voting Rights Act, civil rights leaders said Saturday at the finale of the re-enactment of the Selma-to-Montgomery march that helped lead to passage of the law.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 "was the single most significant piece of legislation in the century," the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a co-founder of the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference, told a crowd of nearly 300 marchers at the state Capitol.

In 1965, no blacks held major office in Alabama, University of Alabama political scientist William Stewart said.

By 2001, there were more than 755 black elected officials in Alabama, according to the most recent figures available from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Across the South, the number has grown from 70 to nearly 7,000.


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