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
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.