The 1960s in USA: How the March on Washington shaped civil rights

This essay discusses the March on Washington of 1963 as a transformative event in the United States during the 1960s. It highlights the racial discrimination faced by people of color, the assassination of Medgar Evers, and the organization of a non-violent protest march in Washington. The march addressed multiple issues, including civil rights, unemployment, minimum wage, and employment discrimination. The essay also emphasizes the unprecedented cooperation between black and white communities in support of racial and economic justice, reflecting a significant shift in the societal fabric of the time.

Running head: THE 60S IN USA
THE 60S IN USA
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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The decade of the 60s was marked a paradigmatic shift in the social fabric of the United
States of America. In this particular essay the event of the March on Washington of 1963 shall be
discussed to substantiate its importance as a transformative event which had accelerated the pace
of the change in the societal fabric of the United States of America.
The people of colour had been the soft targets of racial assaults and also been victims of
discrimination, against which they had organized themselves and had waged protests throughout
the nation, and that came to be called as the civil rights movement. The rising voices of
opposition from the people of colour had caused the jingoists belonging to the majority
community, the whites to launch counter attacks on the people of colour in order to dissuade
them from their resolve to achieve their human rights and also their dignity. One such backlash
from the end of the white supremacist or the jingoist had been that of the assassination of African
American Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers, in June 1963, which has been rendered as a
racially motivated crime. In response to the assassination of Medgar Evers by a white
supremacist sniper, the people of colour had organized a non violent protest march through the
national capital of Washington, on August 28, 1963. The March in Washington 1963 was the
largest march to have been organized during the history of the nation back then. The most
important feature of the movement was the fact that it had taken multiple issue into
consideration. ‘Calls for the passage of a civil rights bill pending before the Congress took
centre stage. But the march’s goal also included a public work program to reduce
unemployment, an increase in the minimum wage, and a law barring discrimination in
employment (Foner, 988).’ These demands show how vocal the community of the people of
colour had become about voicing their rights and how much determined were they with regard to
gaining what they considered as their rights. One of the banners waved in the demonstration

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read, “Seek the freedom in 1963 promised in 1863 (Forner, 988),” makes the determination of
the people of colour with regard to gaining their rights very evident.
The March on Washington is also significant because of another reason as the political
situations had been transformed and the community of the white people who were supposedly
the enemy of the people of colour had extended their helping hand towards them. The liberal
wing of the white community had extended their support towards the people of colour and had
supported them in their civil rights movement. ‘The March on Washington reflected an
unprecedented degree of black-white cooperation in support of racial and economic justice
(Foner 988).’ This is reflective of the change in the societal fabric that had set in which can be
characterized as the people colour becoming vocal about their rights and even the whites
realizing the need to stand by justice.

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References
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History: Seagull Fourth Edition. Vol. 1. WW Norton
& Company, 2013.