Nobody knew what America’s future held 50 years ago. In the South, Jim Crow laws reigned. Meanwhile, African Americans boycotted, marched and challenged society.
Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and renowned civil rights leader, helped organize the March on Washington to persuade President John F. Kennedy to pass the Civil Rights Act. On August 28, 1963, an estimated 200,000 people attended. King, one of the prominent speakers of his time, was the last to walk up the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver his renowned “I Have A Dream” speech. He celebrated victories, acknowledged defeats and memorably set goals for the future.
On the 50th anniversary of the March, President Obama delivered a speech in King’s honor that maintained a healthy balance between celebrating civil rights era victories and acknowledging the long road ahead for equal minority rights.
The speech included several allusions to King’s “I have a dream”, discussing topics such as segregated public accommodations and voting rights. Obama recalled the sit-ins, protests, and finally the March on Washington that marked King’s civil rights campaign.
These references reminded viewers of the incredible influence that King’s speech had on civil rights legislation, and served as a reminder of the power of his words. While Obama commemorated the new rights African Americans obtained in the post-civil rights era, he also clarified that the world still has ways to go until it achieves true equality.
Perhaps most refreshing about the speech was that instead of delivering in an overly-partisan, policy-pursuing manner, Obama achieved more by simply applauding King’s work and using it as a basis for improving minority rights. Obama conveyed a clear purpose to viewers, reminding them that “the arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own.”
President Obama could never have filled King’s shoes. But he did the closest thing by honoring an incredible leader’s most famous speech.
