Sen. Cruz: We Commemorate the Sojourners Who Paved the Road Towards Justice

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued the following statement in advance of the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" that occurred on March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama:

"Half a century ago, the root of evil and injustice stained our nation's history as hundreds of civil rights advocates were attacked in Selma on their way to Montgomery.

"Today, our hearts are heavy as we remember that Bloody Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge where 600 were blasted with tear gas and beaten with clubs. It was an assault on the dignity of each man, woman, and child, and on the rights bestowed on them by God alone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or background.

"Yet, the sojourners did not give into the hostility. They stood at the precipice of freedom for all, and they began again, on March 9, and then again on March 21, with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. leading more than 3,000 marchers. By the time they reached the state capitol in Montgomery on March 25, more than 25,000 supporters - black and white - walked hand-in-hand.

"It was a pilgrimage for justice, and for the voting rights of every citizen to be realized. It was a moment of hope for the nation, for as Dr. King read James Weldon Johnson's prophetic words:

‘We have come over a way
That with tears hath been watered.
We have come treading our paths
Through the blood of the slaughtered.
Out of the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam
Of our bright star is cast.'

"The truth prevailed, Congress soon after adopted the Voting Rights Act, and today Dr. King's dream marches on as we commemorate the brave men and women who carried the light to Montgomery.

"Though injustices still pervade our neighborhoods and cities, we celebrate how far we've come. And we remain committed to bending the arc towards justice."

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