Secretaries Tom Perez, Julian Castro: Why They're In Selma
Source: NBC News
U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro are among the officials and civil rights leaders in Selma, Alabama this weekend commemorating the 50th anniversary of the "Bloody Sunday" events that led to the Voting Rights Act and changed the course of U.S. history. In separate phone interviews with NBC News, both men spoke about the meaning of civil rights then and now.
"Anniversaries are always a time of reflection and renewal; it's a time to see how far we have come," said Perez, one of the speakers at Sunday's Unity Breakfast and pre-march rally. "The fact that the first African American president will be there is a remarkable tribute."
But the Dominican-American Labor Secretary, who previously led the civil rights division for the Department of Justice, was quick to say it was "regrettable" that five decades later, civil rights are still an issue, citing Alabama's "ill-conceived immigration law rivaling Arizona's as a bellweather of the work that lies ahead."
"I spent a lot of time in Alabama with schoolteachers who wanted to teach their kids and didn't want to become immigration cops," said Perez, referring to the passage of Alabama's stringent immigration law several years ago. He also expressed concern over restrictive voter laws in Alabama and other states which he said made it "impossible" for some to vote.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/selma-50th-anniversary/secretaries-tom-perez-julian-castro-why-theyre-selma-n318691
RELATED: Fifty Years Past Selma, Historic Town Makes Slow March Towards Change: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/selma-50th-anniversary/50-years-past-selma-famed-town-makes-slow-march-towards-n319106
= new reply since forum marked as read
