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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Fabiola Cineas in Selma, Alabama; and Adria R Walker in Jackson, Mississippi

These civil rights leaders put their lives on the line for voting rights. Now they say we’re ‘going backwards’

A collage of civil rights activists and leaders against a pink background
In the wake of the recent supreme court decision gutting the VRA, the Guardian spoke with those who participated in the civil rights movement about the fight for voting rights and what the setback means for Black voters. Composite: Javier Palma/The Guardian/Getty Images/AP/Wikimedia Commons/Dr. Flonzie Brown Wright

The supreme court’s recent decision to gut the Voting Rights Act is an affront to everyone who marched, bled and died to make that law possible, civil rights activists said.

“When we look at the supreme court’s action against the Voting Rights Act, it’s really a kneecap – a way to discriminate, to silence voters who fought so hard for this right,” said Sheyann Webb-Christburg, who, at eight years old, marched with civil rights leaders in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

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