March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
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The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. It was organized principally by A. Philip Randolph, James Bevel, Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr. During the march, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial. About 250,000 people were in attendance.
The march caused great concern within the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. It was believed that the march would turn violent[1], which could then undermine pending civil rights legislation and damage the international image of the United States. It was a major factor leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The march was condemned by the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, who termed it the "farce on Washington".
Four out of five marchers were black. The speakers included SNCC leader John Lewis, civil rights figures such as Gordon Parks and Roy Wilkins, labor leaders such as Walter Reuther, clergy including Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle (the Archbishop of Washington, who made the invocation), Rabbi Uri Miller (President of the Synagogue Council of America) who gave the prayer, remarks by Joachim Prinz (President of the American Jewish Congress), Archbishop Iakovos primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, author James Baldwin, film stars such as Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Marlon Brando, nightclub stars Josephine Baker and Eartha Kitt, and singers such as Mahalia Jackson, Marian Anderson, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan (who performed after King's "I Have a Dream" speech, as seen in the film No Direction Home) [2].
An earlier March on Washington had been proposed by Randolph, Rustin, and A. J. Muste in 1941 to protest discrimination in government and defense industries as well as racial segregation in the armed forces. This march was canceled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 which ordered "a Policy of Full Participation in the Defense Program by All Persons, Regardless of Race, Creed, Color, or National Origin..."
[edit] Notes
[edit] See also
- American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
- List of protest marches on Washington, D.C.
- Childrens Crusade
[edit] External link
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