Thousands of protesters rallied in Washington and other U.S. cities on Saturday to demand protections for voting rights, aiming to pressure lawmakers to pass legislation to counter a wave of ballot restrictions in Republican-led states.
Held on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington, organizers of the “March On For Washington And Voting Rights” stressed that the moves to curb voting access would disproportionately affect people of color.
In Washington, protesters holding “Black Lives Matter” flags and signs calling for federal legislation marched from McPherson Square to the final meeting point at the National Mall, where a series of civil rights leaders delivered remarks not far from where King gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech 58 years ago.
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"President Biden met with some of the civil rights leadership and we reminded him…You said the night you won that Black America had your back and that you were going to have Black America’s back," Rev. Sharpton declared in from of the crowd of supporters. "Well, Mr. President, they're stabbing us in the back. In 49 states, they’ve got their knives out stabbing us in the back."
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The civil rights activist called on Congress to pass the "John Lewis Voting Rights Act" in a move that he believes would counter state voting reform laws.
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Republicans have widely argued that increased regulations around voting secure elections, while Democrats and activists hold that recent state-based legislation targets Black and Brown communities.
The "John Lewis Voting Rights Act" passed in the House 219-212 earlier this week, however, its chances of surviving the Senate filibuster appears slim.
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"You need to pick up the phone and call Manchin and others and tell them that if they can carve around the filibuster to confirm Supreme Court judges for President Trump, they can carve around the filibuster to bring voter rights to President Biden," Sharpton insisted.
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Sharpton, along with other voting rights activists, has repeatedly called on Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to support weakening or abolishing the filibuster. But Manchin has flatly rejected the many calls to do so.
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"I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt: There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster," Manchin said in an op-ed in April.
The West Virginia Democrat has argued that he cannot justify to his constituents a valid reason to weaken a measure that requires the Senate have at least a 60-40 vote in order to pass a bill.
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