August 24, 2013
March on Washington Meets Post-9/11 America
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 1 MIN.
The March on Washington is meeting post-9/11 America.
A half century ago, 250,000 people crowded the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and stood shoulder to shoulder down the National Mall to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The tens of thousands of people arriving Saturday for an anniversary of that march are finding a very different scene.
Metal barriers keep people away from the reflecting pool. Only a small group of attendees is allowed near the memorial. Everyone else has been pushed back and is watching and listening to the speeches on big-screen televisions. Police are stationed atop the Lincoln Memorial. There's a media area and VIP seating.
The anniversary event has adopted a grab-bag of causes including global warming, gay rights and organized labor.
