March On Washington

March On Washington. Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Memorial Park. On 28 August 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators took part in a march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the nation’s capital. The march was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong civil rights bill in Congress. During this event, Martin Luther King delivered his memorable “I Have a Dream” speech., The 1963 March on Washington had several precedents. In the summer of 1941 A. Phillip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, called for a march on Washington, D.C., to draw attention to the exclusion of African Americans from positions in the national defense industry. This job market had proven to be closed to blacks, despite the fact it was growing to supply materials to the Allies in World War II. The threat of 100,000 marchers in Washington, D.C., pushed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802, which mandated the formation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission to investigate racial discrimination charges against defense firms. In response, Randolph cancelled plans for the march.p After the march, King and other civil rights leaders met with President Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House, where they discussed the need for bipartisan support of civil rights legislation. Though they were passed after Kennedy’s death, the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 reflect the demands of the march., Source: “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” March on Washington for jobs and Freedom. N.p.,n.d. Web. Aug, 2016.