On this date in 1963, 250,000 people gathered on the same mall that today is unfortunately better known as the scene of an insurrection directed by a man who decided that he would rather plunge this country into chaos than admit that he lost an election.
On this day we remember, recognize and celebrate the anniversary of one of the key moments of beginning of the end of “American Apartheid,” and the history of this country’s overt racism, the March on Washington. An event that amazingly has been co-opted by the cult of the former game show host as an example of “content of their character” when they try to defend their racism—and use the word of the Keynote speaker that day to try to defend it—focusing on just 35 words from his speech.
The organizers wanted the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to be a peaceful demonstration to those holding the power, but as Taylor Branch mentioned in “Parting the Waters” his first book chronicling the struggle for Civil Rights, the Rev. Dr. King, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Rustin and others also saw this as an opportunity to change perceptions.
They encouraged those “Negroes” who were coming to dress well and to be mindful of their demeanor throughout the day, because for many Whites who were also there for the march it could possibly be their first interaction with a Black person. The organizers were also aware that all three (yes just three) networks were going to be carrying the event throughout the day, and the images that they would be broadcasting could have an impact on people throughout the U.S.—and the world.
Perception is not reality—but those images…
-Of an event that was more of a celebration than an angry protest;
-Of men and women who had the same goals, hopes and dreams as those who were watching them on their black and white TV’s;
-Of a 34-year-old man talking so powerfully about what he knew this country could become, if only the millions of people who were denied their basic rights could fully participate in it;
Helped start changing the realities of a lot of people—even the realities of the cowards who would murder four little girls in a Birmingham church less than a month after this celebration.
One can’t help but wonder what would have happened in the event had occurred on this date in 2020—wait a minute, no we don’t BECAUSE HERE IS THE RESPONSE IN 2020 on just the possibility of the march.
The march help bring about the adoption of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, legislation that some of my R friends like to boast happened because of “the Republicans who helped ensure its passage.”
And you want to know something—they’re right.
It was moderate northern Republicans that understood they didn’t want to be on the wrong side of history and support the legislation. What Republicans now don’t want to admit is that what President Johnson said after the signing of the Civil Rights Act is true:
“We have lost the South for a generation”
The same White racists who blocked the adoption of the Civil Right Act through the use of the filibuster (sound familiar?) simply changed their party affiliation.
The party of Racists now started with an “R” instead of a “D” and they have continued with the same tactics they so proudly used six decades ago.
It is those same Racists (with the help of the silence of those moderates that Dr. King warned us about) that are rebuilding the standards that made “Jim Crow” the bulwark against progress toward true equity and justice, and are proud that they are doing it.
And if you don’t believe me, look at the consideration of blocking a book written about the Black man the school is named after all in the name of not “indoctrinating” the White kids who attend the school that some (not all) White people can at times can do some incredibly vile and evil things—then and now.
I’m of a generation that was taught that your actions reflected all of us. The Blacks who were among the 250,000 people who surrounded the mall on that August day in 1963 understood that.
I’m beginning to wonder if the people who continue to defend those “Freedom Fighters” and their leader understand that “Perception is Reality.”
And again, if you don’t believe me, there are two local “reporters”—one who was fired after praising fascists live on the air, the other who has gone the Alex Jones route and is suckering people to pay to be “undivided”—and two Seattle Times columnists who are making a comfortable living helping stoke the perception that Seattle—especially downtown Seattle—is Thunderdome minus Mel Gibson.
The reality—tourism in downtown is close to its pre pandemic high—but hey, never let the truth get in the way of making money
For the editorial page of The Mobile Register this was their reality of the March:
I wonder if those people ever admitted that they may have been on the wrong side of history?
I wonder if the people today who are now fighting to bring us back to those glorious days of “Separate But Equal” wonder if we may look at them the way we look at the editors of The Mobile Register:
Being on the wrong side of history.
BTW, at the end of the March, the people who participated in this event HELPED THE PARK SERVICE CLEAN UP AFTERWARDS—because they didn’t want to be seen as having left a national and international attraction a mess…
“With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
Rev. Dr. Martin King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
Until Next Time.
Thoughts From A Short Round Black Man 