Obama to visit Selma for 50th anniversary of civil rights marches

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Selma, Alabama, in March to recognize the 50th anniversary of historic marches led by activists fighting against segregation and seeking to ensure African Americans' right to vote, a White House official said on Tuesday.

Obama will visit the small southern town on March 7 as part of his administration's efforts to highlight the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the official said.

The law, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson 50 years ago this August, banned literacy tests and other tactics used in the U.S. South to block racial minorities from voting. The White House official said more details of Obama's trip would be announced later.