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famous “I Have a Dream” speech, one of the greatest orations in U.S. history.
King dreamed of the United States becoming an “oasis of freedom and justice”
in which all Americans would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by
the content of their character,” and he concluded with words from an old Negro
spiritual, “Free at last, free at last: thank God almighty, we are free at last.”
The March on Washington put great moral force behind the Civil Rights
Bill and presented the nation with a historic image of the dignity and strength
of King and other African-American leaders. But the legislation was stalled in
a Congress which, despite the public’s horror at the scenes from Birmingham
and its support of King’s speech, could be quite hostile to African Americans.
By late November 1963, with Kennedy’s shocking assassination in Dallas, the
future of civil rights was uncertain at best. With a southerner, Lyndon Johnson
of Texas, entering the White House, Black leaders who had only won over
Kennedy after years of waiting and suffering were nervous and uncertain about
the future of racial progress. But Johnson, who considered himself open-minded
on racial matters and wanted to emulate Franklin Roosevelt’s appeal to the
downtrodden, vowed to carry on Kennedy’s work, pledging his support for the
bill and even concluding a televised speech on civil rights with words from theFIGuRE 8-5 Demonstrators at the March on Washington, 1963