Survivors of people killed during the civil rights era said recent Supreme Court decisions have undercut the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and left them angry and worried about the future of minority voting rights, The Associated Press reported.
They pointed to a series of rulings over the past dozen years, including a 2013 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, and an April ruling that survivors said severely weakened a key section of the law. “My mother’s blood is on that bill. We were always proud of that, and now it’s gone,” said Anthony Liuzzo, whose mother, Viola Liuzzo, was shot and killed in Alabama in 1965 while driving marchers.
Family members recounted the violence that accompanied the civil rights struggle. Lisa McNair, whose sister Denise McNair died in the Sept. 15, 1963, bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, said she had seen advances during her life but is “physically sick” about the court’s decision and subsequent actions by lower courts and legislatures. Cassie Schwerner, whose uncle Michael Schwerner was killed during Freedom Summer in 1964, said the April ruling brought “rage and a good deal of sadness.” The Associated Press previously reported on those murders and the federal prosecutions that followed.
Other survivors recalled the long-term toll of the struggle. Tamara Orange, whose father James Orange helped organize voting protests, said she was “relieved” he was not alive to see the court’s recent ruling because it made her feel the sacrifices had been in vain. Dennis Dahmer Sr., whose father Vernon Dahmer Sr. was killed when the Ku Klux Klan firebombed the family home in 1966, said his family believed the worst had passed after the Voting Rights Act but that violence showed how fragile protections could be.
Survivors said they have watched Republican-led state legislatures move quickly after the April ruling to redraw or eliminate majority-Black congressional districts. They said the actions amount to a rollback of gains won at great cost and pledged to continue fighting for voting rights. “What more do you want? Why do you hate us so?” McNair asked, speaking about the frustration felt by many survivors.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
