USA: Conservative rally takes place at the National Mall on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech"

Record ID: 215672

  • Title: USA: Conservative rally takes place at the National Mall on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream speech"
  • Date: 29th August 2010
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 28, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CROWD AT TEA PARTY RALLY MAN WITH PICTURE OF OBAMA WITH A HITLER BEARD PEOPLE DRESSED IN PATRIOTIC PARAPHERNALIA SITTING ON LINCOLN MEMORIAL STEPS LISTENING TO THE RALLY
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAR85LF4RKZOYZ5A3TEI9CYWHW
  • Story Text: Tens of thousands of Americans rallied in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday (August 28) to hear speeches about God and their country in a conservative show of strength ahead of congressional elections this fall.
    The organizer, Fox TV host Glenn Beck, who invited listeners from across the country to the U.S. capital to "restore America's honor," hoped that this event would open people's eyes.
    "If you were blind yesterday, you were blind ten minutes ago, you were blind ten minutes in the future, see, see what the Lord is putting in front of you now. Can we bring out the bag pipes," Glenn Beck said.
    Beck and the Republican 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, both darlings of the Tea Party, urged a return to what they said were traditional American values of service to others and a belief in God. Although both Palin and Beck are strong critics of the Obama administration's policies, they eschewed overtly political references, while expressing the desire for change.
    "You have the same still spine and the moral courage of Washington and Lincoln and Martin Luther King. It is in you, it will sustain you as it sustained them. So with pride in the red, white and blue, with gratitude to our men and women in uniform lets stand together. Lets stand with honor. Let's restore America. God bless you and God bless America," Palin said to applause.
    Many of the people that attended the rally were members of the Tea Party, a loosely organized grassroots movement driven by conservative activists seeking lower taxes and more limited government.
    Republicans like Charles H. Dunn of North Carolina hoped that this rally would harness their anti-establishment fervor to win control of Congress from President Barack Obama's Democrats in November.
    "Government that we feel is out of control, that it's too big and getting bigger by the day creating great debt that we all must burden, not only our generation but future generations. We want to see that stopped, we want to see that trend reversed," Dunn said.
    Not everyone at the National Mall supported the rally. People began bickering and shouting when a group of men showed up with signs that said Glenn Beck represented a "Nightmare".
    Democrat supporter John Seigle II believed that it was necessary for him to attend so people would know that there view is not America's view.
    "I came here because I don't want to give these people a free pass to spread the I believe it's hate that they are spreading," Seigle II said.
    The rally was criticized in advance by some civil rights leaders for being held on the same day and in the same place as Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech 47 years ago.
    Both Beck and Palin paid tribute to King, and Martin Luther King Jr's niece Alveda King also attended the rally.
    "I have a dream that America will repent of the sin of racism and return to honor. I have a dream, yes, I have a dream that one day white privilege will become human privilege and people of every ethnic blend will receive everyone as brothers and sisters in the love of God," King said.
    Giant TV screens scattered across the Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial played newsreel footage of the civil rights leader's 1963 speech.
    A competing march to celebrate King's legacy was organized by black leaders including Al Sharpton, who said Beck was distorting King's legacy.
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