(CNN) From the passage of the 13th Amendment to the present, racial progress in America has often been prematurely celebrated. "Bloody Sunday," as it came to be known, continues to haunt our national psyche. Selma, as it was unfolding and as we look back on it historically, illustrates the bottomless depths and expansive breadth of anti-Black racism. It is a tragic emblem of America's stubborn, violent failure to recognize Black humanity. That is the hardest lesson of Selma, one evident in the latest round of national cruelty to deny Black citizenship and dignity.

Source: The Nation March 10, 2021 14:48 UTC