The March on Washington in August 28th, 1963 made an indelible mark on the American consciousness.

The image of 250,000 people coming together in the nation’s capital glared out of tiny black and white televisions from coast to coast. It told white America that this Civil Rights Movement was NOT limited to black agitators, was NOT isolated to the South and was NOT going away.

The published list of demands seems hardly revolutionary today but represented a fundamental shift in American policy at the time. They were as follows:

- Passage of meaningful Civil Right Legislation,
- The elimination of segregation in public schools,
- Protection for demonstrators from police brutality,
- A major public works program to provide employment,
- The passage of laws prohibiting discrimination in public and private hiring,
- Establishment of minimum wage at $2/hour,
- And finally self-government for Washington DC.

Several groups joined together to increase visibility even though they had different agendas, and different ideas of how to achieve their goals. Martin Luther King, James Farmer of CORE, A. Phillip Randolph and Roy Wilkins of the NAACP were among the leaders who formed the coalition.

Oddly, both the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islam opposed the march. The Klan of course opposed any form of desegregation.

Malcolm X disagreed on the presentation calling it the “Farce on Washington.” He felt a more militant action would be effective.

The March itself was a culmination of a series of horrific assaults on human dignity; from the open casket funeral for Emmitt Till to the brutal beatings of young, nonresistant black protesters in Birmingham.

Americans repeatedly saw white men using batons, fire hoses, vicious dogs and tear gas on black and white protesters who were doing little more than standing together. Nothing they saw justified that level of brutality.

The march came together with limited difficulties. One quarter of a million people marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. There were performances by Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Mahalia Jackson (the world’s most recognizable gospel singer).

The speakers included all of the organizers except James Farmer who was in prison at the time. Charlton Heston, representing a coalition of artists, read a speech by James Baldwin. Catholic, Protestant and Jewish leaders spoke, as did Josephine Baker who introduced several “Negro Women who Fought for Freedom” including Rosa Parks.

The legendary highlight was the speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. He closed the show with his “I have a Dream” exhortation. He started with prepared notes but inspiration took him into an exploration of the American dream and how it applied to the issue of race.

The long term results of that day reverberated through the nation. It set the stage for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Equal Employment Opportunities Act of 1972.

However, it may have contributed to JFK’s assassination because of his support for the march and definitely pointed towards Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968.

Most telling is the fact that every one of the stated goals of the March on Washington has been achieved benefiting people of all races.