Politics
Obama to stand in Martin Luther King’s shadow – 50 years on
As part of the commemorations of King’s speech on Wednesday, church bells will ring across the country.
An estimated 250,000 people of all races descended on Washington’s Mall on a sweltering August 28, 1963 day, chanting “Equality now!” and singing “We Shall Overcome,” in what was officially billed as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Millions more watched on television – among them president John F. Kennedy, who until then had been dragging his feet on legislation to end racial segregation in conservative Southern states.
King, 34, was the last speaker of the day.
Departing from his prepared text, he famously declared: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal’.”
The march helped set the stage for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed major forms of racial discrimination, followed a year later by the Voting Rights Act designed to guarantee the franchise for all black U.S. citizens.
The future of that law has been called into question after the U.S. Supreme Court told Congress earlier this year to rewrite a key section regarding federal oversight of voting practices in mainly Southern states.
Wednesday’s event, known as the March for Jobs and Justice, will also include former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and luminaries of the African American community.
Copyright 2013 AFP
