USA TODAY International Edition
MARCHING TO WASHINGTON
When I accepted a friend’s invite, I didn’t realize I would bear witness to an iconic event and a turning point in history.
Iawoke as the sun broke above the rooftops of Baltimore’s distinctive row houses. Peering through the school bus window as we left the blur of another city behind, I knew we must be near our destination: Washington, D. C. It was Aug. 28, 1963. Though a young teen brimming with anticipation, I was stiff from an uncomfortable few hours of sleep as we made our pre- dawn journey from New Jersey. The March on Washington awaited, and I was ready to add my voice to the others assembling in the nation’s capital that day.
When I accepted my friend’s invitation to join him, his mother and his aunt on the trip, sponsored by the Stelton Baptist Church in Edison, N. J., I didn’t realize that Paul and I would bear witness to a turning point in American history.
The first thing that struck me was the huge throng, an estimated 250,000 people, coming together as one, through the mingling of whites and blacks of all ages. Though today we are accustomed to these public multitudes of diversity, 50 years ago, the scene was extraordinary.
The largest protest in U. S. history had gathered, not in anger, but in hope for a better future. Despite widespread fears of violence in Washington, there was none.
The organizers took their place at the front, and we marched with purpose and good cheer from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, chanting “Equality now!” and singing We Shall Overcome.
Once we arrived at the white- pillared temple in memory of our 16th president, Paul and I elbowed our way along the Reflecting Pool to get a better view of the speakers, atop the memorial steps. Before them was a sea of humanity stretching along both sides of the pool. Many listeners dangled their feet in the shallow water for relief from the heat.
Though one person after another took their turns at the microphone, I can’t say I recall much of what was said until Martin Luther King, the last speaker. And as he repeated his iconic “I Have a Dream” refrain, the crowd was his, mesmerized by his thunderous cadence and the truth woven into his words. King captured the moment in a way that is emblazoned in my memory. Paul and I spoke recently about how his words, now a vital square in our American quilt, landed with such power:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ... I have a dream today.
We knew as we headed home that we had been part of something special. Looking back, I marvel at how much America has changed for the better. At the time, segregation and discrimination were commonplace — and not just in the Deep South.
But the cloak of racism slowly began to lift. Less than 12 months after the march, the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, prohibiting discrimination based on race, religion or gender. It was followed up a year later by the Voting Rights Act banning discriminatory obstacles to casting ballots. In 1968, within days of King’s assassination, President Johnson signed a civil rights law barring housing discrimination.
The central message of the march, equality for all, also planted the seeds for other movements for social jus- tice by women and gay men and lesbians. And, of course, in 2008 the nation elected, then re- elected in 2012, an African American to the highest office in the land.
The march represented one of the finest moments of American democracy in action. People of all origins came together to peacefully petition their government to enforce the core concept of our founding, and one invoked by King on that day: “that all men are created equal. ”
As far as this country has traveled to fulfill King’s dream of equality for all, there are still miles left in this journey. On virtually every measure of economic and social well- being, African Americans lag behind. Predominantly black cities, from Camden, N. J., to Detroit, are in crisis, racked by crime and hobbled by joblessness. Stark racial divisions persist, in how we view the role of government in helping the needy or in how justice is served in cases with racial dimensions.
The 50th anniversary of the march is an occasion for the nation to remember its importance in making our society better while dedicating itself to further progress.