No, Bernie Sanders, that is NOT the real Selma in that photo

To remember "Bloody Sunday," Bernie Sanders' campaign tweeted out a photo not of the events, but instead of a scene from the recent movie Selma.
 By 
Juana Summers
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

This is not the best way to mark the anniversary of a landmark civil rights moment.

In a tweet acknowledging the 51st anniversary of what has become known as "Bloody Sunday," Bernie Sanders' campaign Twitter account tweeted out a photo not of the events -- a turning point of the civil rights movement -- but instead of a scene from the recent movie Selma.


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The tweet, one in a series marking the anniversary of the march, has since been deleted. Screenshots though, have been shared on Twitter, and the tweet was preserved by Politwoops.

Sanders was one of more than 100 members of Congress who traveled to Selma last year to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when peaceful protesters trying to cross a bridge were beaten by police officers, an event that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


Both Sanders and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are campaigning for the votes of black Americans. While Sanders has cut into Clinton's support among young voters and white voters, Clinton has carried black voters by large margins, according to exit polls.

The Sanders' campaign's Twitter gaffe comes one day after he caused a stir during Sunday's Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan, after Sanders and Clinton were each asked about racial blind spots.

In his response, Sanders discussed friends who were discriminated against decades ago, as well as of today's Black Lives Matter movement.

"When you’re white, you don’t know what it’s like to be living in a ghetto, you don’t know what it’s like to be poor," he said. "You don’t know what it’s like to be hassled when you walk down the street or get dragged out of a car."

Many, including those unaffiliated with Clinton's campaign, suggested that Sanders' comments suggested that there were no poor whites and no non-poor blacks in America.



Sanders clarified his remarks on Monday, telling reporters in Detroit that "when you talk about ghettos, traditionally what you're talking about is African-American communities."


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Juana Summers

Juana Summers is Mashable’s Political Editor, directing coverage of the 2016 presidential race. Before joining Mashable, she covered Congress and political news for NPR. Juana reported on national politics, including the 2012 presidential race for POLITICO. She has also reported on defense policy and veterans issues on Capitol Hill. Juana got her start in journalism covering Missouri politics for outlets including the Kansas City Star, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KBIA-FM and the Columbia Missourian. She is a former Online News Association board member and a co-founder of the Journalism Diversity Project. Juana is a Kansas City native and an alumna of the Missouri School of Journalism.

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