Martin Luther King leads a march through Selma, Alabama

[Smartassawhip]

Given what is happening now with OWS this is very inspiring. 

[KayBeeEee1983]

Remember when people protested stuff that actually meant something?

[TheTexasViper]

I though the Republican Party passed the Voting Rights Acts shortly after President Lincoln was assasinated....hmmm..must have been repealed...I wonder who????????

[avalsonline2]

@TheTexasViper it wasnt repealed, states just found a way around the law. ie literacy tests, terrorism, that type of thing. you know, states rights stuff.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 I know. The Supreme Court is the law of the land, but sadly isn't always right. The Supreme Court also ruled in 1857 that it was unconstitutional to allow slaves or free people of African ancestry to be U.S. citizens. We know this was wrong because ten of the original thirteen states when this nation was founded allowed black men to vote, thus recoginzing them as citizens. And every citizen of the thirteen colonies became instant U.S. citizens when their state joined the Union.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 Of course the Constitution is a living document. Everybody knows that. The Founders made it so that the American people could change or add to the Constitution any time they wanted by adding new amendments. The VRA is unconstitutional because IT WAS NOT a constitutional amendment. It was an act of Congress. The whole purpose of the Constitution was/is to keep Congress from passing extra-constitutional legislation.

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat actually, according to the supreme court the VRA is constitutional. atthe same time the court has ruled that literacy tests are unconstitutional.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 Well, I certainly understand your position. But do you really think the VRA squares with the Constitution? If so, which part? It doesn't square with the 14th amendment, it doesn't square with the 15th amendment, and it most certainly doesn't square with the 10th amendment. Or I guess a better question would be, do you even care if something is constitutional or not? Should we just do away with the Constitution and let Congress pass whatever people want them to pass?

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat when you say UNCONSTITUTIONAL, it means something contradicts the document. VRA does not contradict it, it adds to it. just as all amendments after the bill of rights added to the constitution. therfore, at best, the law was extra constitutional. constitution is a living document. it will change with the times. to expect otherwise is idiotic.

[KayBeeEee1983]

@avalsonline2 Congress can't add anything to the Constitution. Amendments are ratified by state legislatures. The federal government only has the powers delegated to it by the Constitution.

[avalsonline2]

@KayBeeEee1983 better read up on your constitution, friend. the procedure you are describing is one of 2 ways amendments are added to the constitution. it is also the procedure that has never been used.

and frankly i do not think the good people of the united states weregoing to let "those damn niggers" vote. or do you not remeber "segregation now, segregation forever" chant?

[KayBeeEee1983]

@avalsonline2 You're incorrect. "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof"

[KayBeeEee1983]

@avalsonline2 Amendments have always been ratified by "the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States" and never "Conventions in three fourths thereof"

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 The poll taxes were eliminated constitutionally by the states through an Amendment to the Constitution. If the government wanted to eliminate literacy tests and make it that everyone, regardless of intelligence or education could vote, the Senate should have sent the states a Constitutional amendment for their people to vote on. What resulted was by not having any kind of voter qualifications, the ignorant masses of all colors, races, and creeds have been allowed to swamp the polls

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat what part of "segregation now, segregation forever" dont oyu understand? the good people ofthe USA hated niggers. and the majority would have lovedthe status quoe. the people are not always right. sorry. what the PEOPLE ended up doing was oppressing a group of citizens by curcumventing the law. this, my friend is evil. if it were up to me, i would pass the VRA as well.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 Here is the full amendment that the VRA is based on: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

It doesn't say a state can't have some form of voter qualification such as a literacy test. If you'll read the VRA, you'll see what I mean.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 I explained that. See my comment below. I didn't adress that comment specifically to you, so I'm assuming you haven't seen it.

[Sistarovat]

@avalsonline2 What's more, the Voting Rights Act put federal registrars in states with less than 50% of their population registered to vote. It also made those states: AZ, LO, TX, MS, GA, SC, VA, AK, plus certain counties in CA, SD, FL, and NH get federal clearance if they want to move a voting booth from a fire statio to a school down the road just because those areas had less than 50% of their populations registered in 1965. The VRA is a totalitarian monstrosity.

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat once again, why is the law unconstitutional?

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat cmon, dont play stupid. these laws and their lawmakers were not concerned with the voters being educated and informed. they were concerned with keeping blacks from voting. these racist cocksuckers just found a way to curcumvent the law. ofcourse the majority of the black population would be ill educated. the same states kept up the segregated schools and substandard education. what was hapening priorto the VRA was a shameless crime. and the law righted it. i see no problem.

[Sistarovat]

The Voting Rights Act was based on the 15th Amendment which specified that neither the U.S. nor any state could abridge the right to vote based on "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". It didn't say a state couldn't allow only literate people to vote, only people who could pass a constitutional test to vote, or any other kind of test. The Voting Rights Act made it legal for any ignorant person who could put an X on a piece of paper elligible to vote.

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat considering that it was also the states that segregated schools and provided blacks with substandard education, a full 10 years after brown vs board of education, i think the voting rights act was justified. left to their own devises or "freedom", the states and the good people of the US oppressed the blacks in any way possible. so far nothing you said addresses the UNCONSTITUTIONAL part of the law.

[Sistarovat]

The Voting Rights Act IS unconstitutional.

[avalsonline2]

@Sistarovat i know i am gona regret this, but how is it unconstitutional?

[mephisto88x]

we the people need to march and unite and make history

[avalsonline2]

@mephisto88x unite to do what?

[mephisto88x]

@avalsonline2 unite for universal peace  we're supposed to be civilized people

[avalsonline2]

@mephisto88x do you trully believe you are right in your conviction, your quest for world peace?

[ChrisHarrell543]

I watched the movie called Selma Lord Selma..Great movie! I think the White Minister your talking about is the one from this movie.

[ORNGLOC]

THANKS YOU ANCESTORS 

[Lavron4151]

Good footage, thank you for the upload.

[EMSlydell]

Nice footage of the second of three marches, known as Turnaround Tuesday.