In a nation where some extremists would like to distort the truth by referring to the transatlantic slave trade as “involuntary relocation of African people” and Rosa Parks’ arrest had nothing to do with her race, how will the story of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom be told?
Even now, the legendary words that Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke that day are repeatedly twisted into a perverse defense of systemic racism. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis invoked King’s dream in defense of his “Stop W.O.K.E.” law that is being used to stifle discussion of racism in classrooms. Long before “anti-woke” hysteria began sweeping through statehouses, President Ronald Reagan cited King’s dream in opposition to affirmative action in 1985.
If extremists succeed in purging our textbooks and our collective memory of the factual history of white supremacy, it’s not hard to imagine the March on Washington characterized as a congenial celebration of racial equality and harmony, and King’s “I Have a Dream” speech as a description of contemporary reality.
In the face of this grim but very possible future, the Saturday, Aug. 26 observance of the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington — Not A Commemoration, A Continuation — takes on an even sharper urgency.
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