The March on Washington: Promise and Reality

In an opinion piece published by the Valley News, Professor Randall Balmer says the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington celebrates “the high-water mark of the civil rights movement” while pointing out how much remains to be done to banish discrimination and achieve racial equality.

Balmer, chair of the Department of Religion and the Mandel Family Professor in the Arts & Sciences, says that 50 years later, racial equality remains elusive.

“The March on Washington was a transcendent moment in American history, a day marked by celebration and determination and soaring rhetoric. Fifty years later, however, we still have a long way to go to redeem Martin Luther King’s dream,” he writes.

A subscription is needed to read the full opinion piece, published 8/25/13 by the Valley News.