Clinton Leads Group Crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge On Anniversary Of Selma March

President Clinton linked arms with civil rights leaders and marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, in a ceremony that underscored how far race relations have progressed since the historic Selma march 35 years ago.

Clinton and others cautioned however, against taking the nation's progress in race relations for granted.

"As long as African-American income hovers at nearly half that of Whites, we have another bridge to cross," the President told some 15,000 people gathered in Selma under a blazing sun.

"As long as our children continue to die as the victims of mindless violence, we have another bridge to cross," he added.

The historic march became known as "Bloody Sunday" when on Sunday, March 7, 1965, White state troopers and sheriffs deputies used tear gas, nightsticks and whips to break up an attempt by hundreds of Blacks and White supporters to cross the bridge and march 50 miles to the state Capitol in Montgomery to protest the denial of voting fights for Blacks.

Two weeks later, under the protection of a federal court, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led hundreds of people on the long walk to Montgomery. Within months, the brutal images of the confrontation at Selma still fresh in Americans' minds, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

On March 7 of this year, Clinton crossed the bridge with King's widow, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, on one arm and Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a former King lieutenant, on the other. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt were among the other marchers.

National Guardsmen and state troopers, Black and White, saluted as the procession passed.

"Yes, we have come a mighty long way, but our journey is not over," Clinton said. "For despite our unprecedented prosperity and real social progress, there are still wide and disturbing disparities that fall along the color line in health, in income, in educational achievement and perceptions of justice."

The President pointed out what he saw as the shortcomings in racial equality with clear references to recent cases of police brutality and continuing controversies over the Confederate flag being flown over the South Carolina capitol building.

"As long as the waving symbol of one American's pride is the shameful symbol of another American's pain, we have another bridge to cross," he said.

With the presidential primaries looming across the country, Clinton lamented that "less than half our eligible voters exercise the right that so many here in Selma marched and died for."

Clinton shared the day with two men who helped to engineer the original march--Rep. Lewis and Hosea Williams, another former aide to Dr. King. Both men were badly beaten on "Bloody Sunday."

Clinton, a native of Arkansas, said "I too, am a son of the South, the old segregated South. Those of you who marched 35 years ago set me free too, on Bloody Sunday. Free to know you, to work with you, to love you. I thank you all for what you did."

The president paid tribute to three people who died in that struggle: local activist Jimmy Lee Jackson; the Rev. James Reeb, who died after he was beaten at a march; and Viola Liuzzo, shot to death while she drove other volunteers.

"We honor them for the patriots they were," Clinton said. "The Voting Rights Act was signed in ink in Washington, but it first was signed in blood in Selma."

Clinton noted that without the changes set in motion in 1965, and specifically, "without Selma, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton would never have been elected president of the United States."