They claimed that this was an invasion of
the owners' property rights. It soon became clear that the Bill
would be entangled in a gigantic Congressional debate for months.
Civil Rights supporters looked for new techniques which would
bring added pressure on Congress. Again, the idea of a March on
Washington was proposed, and this time it was carried through.
The demonstration on August 28, 1963, was larger than any
previous one in the history of the capital. At least a quarter of
a million blacks and whites, from all over America, representing
a wide spectrum of religious, labor, and civil rights
organizations, flooded into Washington.
The occasion was peaceful and orderly. The marchers exuded
an aura of interracial love and brotherhood. The emotional
impact on the participants was almost that of a religious
pilgrimage. President Kennedy, instead of trying to block
the march as demanded by many Congressional leaders,
aided it by providing security forces, and he also met
Personally with a delegation of its leaders. The high point of
the demonstration was Martin Luther King's famous speech:
"Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.
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