Washington is turning to the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington this coming week.
That pivotal day is rightfully lauded but little understood. We selectively remember King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Before he laid out his famed, optimistic vision of a color-blind future he painted a dark picture of America, likening its promise of justice to a bounced check.
The march may be remembered for King’s dream, but it was forged by the organizers’ specific demands—including economic ones like a hike in the minimum wage to at least $2.00, or $15.27 in today’s dollars.
We forget that it was a billed as a march for “Jobs and Freedom.” Yes, unemployment was an enviable 5.4 percent that month. But the march’s labor and civil-rights organizers knew that minority and American advancement depended on economic growth—not just nondiscrimination—and that’s why they wanted both.
Via Matthew Cooper.
