"It was more dangerous for African-Americans to march in Alabama on March 7 [1951] than it was for Marines to land on a beach in South Vietnam. State troopers, under orders from Alabama Gov. George Wallace, reacted violently to the right-to-vote demonstration, firing tear gas into the crowd and clubbing people with nightsticks.
"After "'Bloody Sunday,' Selma became ground zero in the civil rights movement. King led a second, largely peaceful march of more than 2,500 protesters March 9. Later that day, five men attacked three out-of-town white ministers. The Rev. James Reeb was beaten so badly he would die two days later.
"On March 21, tens of thousands of marchers, led by King and protected by hundreds of soldiers, began a successful three-day trek to the state capital. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law less than five months later.
--DaCoot
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