March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
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Marches On Washington: 1941, 1963
Twice in American history, more than twenty years apart, a March on Washington was planned, each intended to dramatize the right of black Americans to political and economic equality.
The first march was proposed in 1941 by A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Blacks had benefited less than other groups from New Deal programs during the Great Depression, and continuing racial discrimination excluded them from defense jobs in the early 1940s. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt showed little inclination to take action on the problem, Randolph called for a March on Washington by fifty thousand people. After repeated efforts to persuade Randolph and his fellow leaders that the march would be inadvisable, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 in June 1941, forbidding discrimination by any defense contractors and establishing the Fair Employment Practices Committee (fepc) to investigate charges of racial discrimination. The March on Washington was then canceled. Nearly 2 million blacks were employed in defense work by the end of 1944. Order 8802 represented a limited victory, however; the fepc went out of existence in 1946.
As blacks faced continuing discrimination in the postwar years, the March on Washington group met annually to reiterate blacks' demands for economic equality. The civil rights movement of the 1960s transformed the political climate, and in 1963, black leaders began to plan a new March on Washington, designed specifically to advocate passage of the Civil Rights Act then stalled in Congress. Chaired again by A. Philip Randolph and organized by his longtime associate, Bayard Rustin, this new March for Jobs and Freedom was expected to attract 100,000 participants. President John F. Kennedy showed as little enthusiasm for the march as had Roosevelt, but this time the black leaders would not be dissuaded. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference put aside their long-standing rivalry, black and white groups across the country were urged to attend, and elaborate arrangements were made to ensure a harmonious event. The growing disillusion among some civil rights workers was reflected in a speech planned by John Lewis of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, but in order to preserve the atmosphere of goodwill, leaders of the march persuaded Lewis to omit his harshest criticisms of the Kennedy administration.
The march was an unprecedented success. More than 200,000 black and white Americans shared a joyous day of speeches, songs, and prayers led by a celebrated array of clergymen, civil rights leaders, politicians, and entertainers. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's soaring address climaxed the day; through his eloquence, the phrase "I Have a Dream" became an expression of the highest aspirations of the civil rights movement.
Like its predecessor, the March on Washington of 1963 was followed by years of disillusion and racial strife. Nevertheless, both marches represented an affirmation of hope, of belief in the democratic process, and of faith in the capacity of blacks and whites to work together for racial equality.
See also Civil Rights Movement; Racial Desegregation; Randolph, A. Philip.
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March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (or "The Great March on Washington," as styled in a sound recording released after the event)[1][2] was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history [3] and called for civil and economic rights for African Americans. It took place in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial during the march.[4]
The march was organized by a group of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations,[5] under the theme "jobs, and freedom."[4] Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 (police) to over 300,000 (leaders of the march). Observers estimated that 75–80% of the marchers were black and the rest were white and non-black minorities.
The march is widely credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965).
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Background and Organization
The march was planned and initiated by A. Philip Randolph, the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, president of the Negro American Labor Council, and vice president of the AFL-CIO. Randolph had planned a similar march in 1941. The threat of the earlier march had convinced President Roosevelt to establish the Committee on Fair Employment Practice and ban discriminatory hiring in the defense industry.
The 1963 march was an important part of the rapidly expanding Civil Rights Movement. It also marked the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.
In the political sense, the march was organized by a coalition of organizations and their leaders including: Randolph who was chosen as the titular head of the march, James Farmer (president of the Congress of Racial Equality), John Lewis (chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), Martin Luther King, Jr. (president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference), Roy Wilkins (president of the NAACP), Whitney Young (president of the National Urban League).
The mobilization and logistics of the actual march itself was administered by deputy director Bayard Rustin, a civil rights veteran and organizer of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, the first of the Freedom Rides to test the Supreme Court ruling that banned racial discrimination in interstate travel. Rustin was a long-time associate of both Randolph and Dr. King. With Randolph concentrating on building the march's political coalition, Rustin built and led the team of activists and organizers who publicized the march and recruited the marchers, coordinated the buses and trains, provided the marshals, and set up and administered all of the logistic details of a mass march in the nation's capital.
The march was not universally supported among civil rights activists. Some were concerned that it might turn violent, which could undermine pending legislation and damage the international image of the movement. The march was condemned by Malcolm X, spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, who termed it the "farce on Washington".
March organizers themselves disagreed over the purpose of the march. The NAACP and Urban League saw it as a gesture of support for a civil rights bill that had been introduced by the Kennedy Administration. Randolph, King, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) saw it as a way of raising both civil rights and economic issues to national attention beyond the Kennedy bill. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) saw it as a way of challenging and condemning the Kennedy administration's inaction and lack of support for civil rights for African Americans.[5]
The March
On August 28, more than 2,000 buses, 21 special trains, 10 chartered airliners, and uncounted cars converged on Washington. All regularly scheduled planes, trains, and buses were also filled to capacity.[5]
The march began at the Washington Monument and ended at the Lincoln Memorial with a program of music and speakers. The march failed to start on time because its leaders were meeting with members of Congress. To the leaders' surprise, the assembled group began to march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial without them.
The 1963 March also spurred anniversary marches that occur every five years, with the 20th and 25th being some of the most well known. The 25th Anniversary theme was "We Still have a Dream...Jobs*Peace*Freedom."
Speakers
Representatives from each of the sponsoring organizations addressed the crowd from the podium at the Lincoln Memorial. Speakers included all six civil-rights leaders of the so called, "Big Six"; Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish religious leaders; and labor leader Walter Reuther. Daisy Bates and Josephine Baker were the only women to speak.
Floyd McKissick read James Farmer's speech because Farmer had been arrested during a protest in Louisiana; Farmer had written that the protests would not stop "until the dogs stop biting us in the South and the rats stop biting us in the North."[6]
Controversy over John Lewis' speech
Although one of the officially stated purposes of the march was to support the civil rights bill introduced by the Kennedy Administration, several of the speakers criticized the proposed law as insufficient.
John Lewis of SNCC was the youngest speaker at the event.[4] His speech—which a number of SNCC activists had helped write—took the Administration to task for how little it had done to protect southern blacks and civil rights workers under attack in the Deep South.[7] Cut from his original speech at the insistence of more conservative and pro-Kennedy leaders[5][8] were phrases such as:
In good conscience, we cannot support wholeheartedly the administration's civil rights bill, for it is too little and too late. ...
I want to know, which side is the federal government on?...
The revolution is a serious one. Mr. Kennedy is trying to take the revolution out of the streets and put it into the courts. Listen, Mr. Kennedy. Listen, Mr. Congressman. Listen, fellow citizens. The black masses are on the march for jobs and freedom, and we must say to the politicians that there won't be a "cooling-off" period.
...We will march through the South, through the heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did. We shall pursue our own scorched earth policy and burn Jim Crow to the ground—nonviolently...
Many activists from SNCC, CORE, and even SCLC were angry at what they considered censorship of his speech.[9] A. Philip Randolph also delivered an inspirational speech.[citation needed]
Singers
Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson sang "How I Got Over", musician Bob Dylan performed several songs, including "Only a Pawn in Their Game", about the culturally fed racial hatred amongst Southern whites that led to the assassination of Medgar Evers; and "When the Ship Comes In", during which he was joined by fellow folk singer Joan Baez, who earlier had led the crowds in several verses of "We Shall Overcome" and "Oh Freedom". Peter, Paul and Mary sang "If I Had a Hammer" and Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind". Marian Anderson sang at the march as well.
King gave his famous I Have a Dream speech, which was carried live by TV stations.
Media coverage
Media attention gave the march national exposure, carrying the organizers' speeches and offering their own commentary. In his section The March on Washington and Television News, William Thomas notes: "Over five hundred cameramen, technicians, and correspondents from the major networks were set to cover the event. More cameras would be set up than had filmed the last Presidential inauguration. One camera was positioned high in the Washington Monument, to give dramatic vistas of the marchers".[10]
Criticism
Black nationalist Malcolm X, in his Message to the Grass Roots speech, criticized the march, describing it as "a picnic" and "a circus". He said the civil rights leaders had diluted the original purpose of the march, which had been to show the strength and anger of black people, by allowing white people and organizations to help plan and participate in the march.[11]
See also
References
- Footnotes
- ^ Ward, Brian (April 1998). "Recording the Dream". History Today. http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001329940. "Yet by the end of the year the company was promoting its Great March to Washington album, featuring `I Have A Dream' in its entirety."
- ^ King III, Martin Luther (August 25, 2010). "Still striving for MLK's dream in the 21st century". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/24/AR2010082405003.html?hpid=opinionsbox1.
- ^ Our Documents by U.S.National Archieve
- ^ a b c "The Sixties". Junior Scholastic o. 1994-02-11. pp. 5–6.
- ^ a b c d "March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom". Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement. http://www.crmvet.org/tim/tim63b.htm#1963mow.
- ^ Current biography yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. 1965. p. 121.
- ^ Full Text of John Lewis' Speech ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans
- ^ Lewis, John (1998). Walking With the Wind. Simon & Schuster.
- ^ Carson, Clayborne (1981). In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s. Harvard University Press.
- ^ "The March on Washington and Television News," by William Thomas
- ^ Malcolm X; George Breitman (ed.) (1990) [1965]. Malcolm X Speaks. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. pp. 14–17. ISBN 0-8021-3213-8.
- Bibliography
- A "Dream" Remembered, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
- Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle, London: Phaidon, 2002.
- Kate Tuttle, "March on Washington, 1963", Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, New York: Perseus, 1999.
- Juan Williams, Eyes on The Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965, New York: Viking, 1987.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom |
- The short film "The March on Washington (1963)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The March, 1963, from the National Archives YouTube Channel
- Eyes on the Prize March on Washington video page, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/08_washington.html, retrieved 2010-09-19
- March on Washington – King Encyclopedia, Stanford University
- March on Washington August 28, 1963 ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans
- March on Washington, WDAS History
- The 1963 March on Washington - slideshow by Life magazine
- Original Program for the March on Washington
- Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech at the March
- Bob Dylan, accompanied by Joan Baez, performing When the Ship Comes in at the March – from YouTube
- YouTube clip of Bob Dylan performing Only a Pawn in Their Game at the March
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Houghton Mifflin Companion to US History
The Reader's Companion to American History, Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors, published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
Mentioned in
Asa Philip Randolph
(American labor leader)
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
(American history)
March on Washington
(American history)
Washington, D.C.: History
(city, Virginia)
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