On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people from across the country, assembled in Washington, D.C. for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.[1] Its purpose was to protest racial discrimination and to show support for pending civil rights legislation in Congress. The March was a turning point in the civil rights movement.
It was fitting that this assembly took place near the Lincoln Memorial, as it was President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the Unites States, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation a hundred years earlier, freeing slaves in those states in rebellion against the Union.[2]
On that day, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King called the assembly the “greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”[3].
The assembly was peaceful. According to the National Park Service, the crowds were calm and there were no incidents reported by the police.[4] It is estimated that among the 250,000 who attended, approximately 90,000 were White.[5]
The following year, President Johnson, the 36th President of the United States, signed into law, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, banning segregation on the grounds of race, religion or national origin at all places of public accommodation, such as parks, restaurants, or hotels.[6] The following year, 1965, President Johnson signed into law, the Voting Rights Act, outlawing discriminatory voting practices adopted by many southern states after the Civil War. Less than 50 years later, in 2013, the US Supreme Court, in Shelby v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, thereby enabling southern states to enact laws restricting voting throughout the United States.[7]
Why is this important?
Why do we need to know this?
We are going backwards. There are those who seemingly long for the time before the passage of the Voting Right Act. After the Shelby decision, there has been a concerted effort to erode voting rights, particularly since the 2020 general election. This month, a court finally struck down that part of a 2021 Georgia law that banned handing out food and water to voters waiting in line to vote. Think about it … a law that banned handing out water to voters.[8] States continue to ban books that address such topics as race, under the guise that such exposure may be harmful to students. Hate crimes are on the rise.[9] Withholding such information is not only a distortion of Black history, but a distortion of our American history.
Today, former government officials and attorneys are being held to account for their participation in the attempts to overthrow our government and destroy our democracy. More than 1,100 people have been charged in connection with the January 6th Capitol riots, an assembly that was neither peaceful nor about freedom.
So, when we reflect on the March on Washington, we should remember the circumstances under which the March took place. The issues that we face today appear to be like those issues in 1963. Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or anything else, listen to the candidates for office, any office. Don’t rely solely on the the snippets you hear on the debate stage. Delve deeper into the candidate’s position. It is our responsibility to be educated and tolerant citizens. And by all means, VOTE.
Be Informed
Be Engaged
Be Involved
[1] https://www.nps.gov/articles/march-on-washington.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20end%2C%20the%20crowds,were%20also%20penetrating%20and%20pointed.
[2] https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation; https://civicsinseconds.com/civics-and-juneteenth/
[3] https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/1963-march-washington
[4] https://www.nps.gov/articles/march-on-washington.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20end%2C%20the%20crowds,were%20also%20penetrating%20and%20pointed.
[5] https://www.nps.gov/articles/march-on-washington.htm#:~:text=In%20many%20ways%2C%20the%20March,190%2C000%20blacks%20and%2060%2C000%20whites.
[6] https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-act
[7] https://civicsinseconds.com/dr-kings-dream/
[8] https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/politics/georgia-election-law-ban-food-water-voters-line/index.html
[9] https://apnews.com/article/hate-crimes-fbi-policing-justice-74fe8e303feacd720be95f34446103e7