In the late summer of 1963 Susan and I were finishing our three-month Peace Corps training program at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. We had survived the mid-term "deselection process" (a Peace Corps term for the trainees who didn't make it--close to 50% of the students). We had endured weeks of intensive Turkish language instruction and instruction in TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language from some of the country's foremost experts. In addition to studying Turkish politics and culture, we wilted under the physical education requirements at 5:00 in the afternoon during a D.C. summer--100 degree temperatures and 95% humidity. Finally we were ready to get about the business of teaching English in Turkish public schools in September.
We had heard about the "March on Washington for jobs and freedom" coming on August 28th. Susan and I (along with other Peace Corps Volunteers) committed to going even when told not to by an Administration fearful of violence.
Susan and I had never seen such a large group of people--over 215,000 men, women and children. Most were Black but about 50,000 were White. It was a sea of people flowing from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, on both sides of the reflecting pool. The sound of the crowd was a low murmur--a reverent hush-tone, until performers came alive--" Mahalia Jackson and Peter, Paul and Mary, singing Bob Dylan's "blowing in the wind." And others sang in glorious tones, "We shall overcome." It was a time for people to express love and hope for all their brothers and sisters.
Some claim that the March was just a well-organized event, not a movement. They go on to say that nothing changed as a result of this event--Blacks neither achieved jobs nor freedom. There have been more incidents of discrimination, hatred and violence. There is a current drive in some southern states to suppress voting by minorities. We continue to experience racism--e.g. the Trey VonMartin incident and assaults on supporters of the Dream Act.
However, Susan and I believe the 1963 March on Washington gave us a template, a way of behaving with our fellow citizens that allow peaceful demonstrations and dedication to making lives better for all Americans. Though Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died before his dream could become reality, we seek other leaders to carry our country to that dream. We suspect it would be Dr. King's wish for that to happen, a legacy of the 1963 March on Washington.
Eugene T. Paslov, former Peace Corps Volunteer
Susan G. Paslov, former Peace Corps Volunteer