On August 28, 1963, some 250,000 people endured the sweltering sun and heat to participate in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
The march — held on the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation that ended slavery in the USA — still ranks as one of the country’s largest political rallies in support of human rights. It was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech that is often considered one of his most powerful orations.
The march is also credited for helping create the momentum for passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Both pieces of legislation helped transform this nation.
Barack Obama, our first black president, was elected in 2008 and re-elected four years later. We have made much progress in achieving Dr. King’s dream where “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
But these achievements are not sufficient to say that we are free from racism and prejudice. There is much to make us feel discouraged. We are once again facing issues that we thought were behind us. The future does not look as promising as it once did; in many areas it feels like we are moving backward.
Take, for example, the U.S. Department of Education’s untoward attack on the mission of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. At the start of the 2012-2013 academic year, the Department implemented — without prior notice — tighter underwriting standards for its Parent PLUS Loan Program. This draconian change forced 125,000 African-American students across the U.S. to abandon their higher education plans.
