March On Washington Quotes
King was speaking from a carefully prepared text which did not include the “I have a dream” passage. Jackson, sitting behind the speakers podium, in a loud stage whisper during a pause in King’s speech. King thought for a second or so, pushed is prepared speech aside, gripped both sides of the podium, and launched into what is now considered the iconic phrase of the March on Washington if not the entire civil rights movement, stimulated by the urging of the great singer.
The most famous 4 words of King’s speech, “I have a dream” were thought by many scholars of non-violence to have been less important than these 4 words which they regard as totally fundamental to the success of non-violence as a strategy.
He did a remarkable job. There were more celebrities at the March on Washington than any other political event in American history up to that point.
The logic of the Southern leaders and some Northern racists like FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was to fight the Civil Rights Movement using the Red Scare. The Communist Party called for an end to legal segregation and discrimination against Negroes. Therefore, those who advocated an end to segregation were either Communists or dupes of the Communists was their “logic”.
There was a large contingent of whites who showed up—many invited and expected and many who came on their own.
The president and some of his aids had watched the speech on television.
Romney’s father, George W. Romney, was Governor of Michigan and lost in his attempt to be the Republican presidential candidate. He was a strong supporter of civil rights, but not only did Romney never see his father marching with King, there is no record that the elder Romney ever did march with King. He did march in a civil rights rally in Michigan but King was not present. The elder Romney was a strong supporter of civil rights however, and the son was trying to make the point that he came from a family where civil rights has always been important. This quotation became a cause célèbre in the 2007 Presidential primary campaign as critics gave this as an example of Romney’s disregard for the truth in his effort to be liked and gain support. Defenders claimed that this was a symbolic statement and an example of acceptable political hyperbole.
