WASHINGTON — Thousands of Americans led by the Rev. Al Sharpton rallied Saturday against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, calling for easier job access and decrying the gulf between rich and poor before marching to the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial.
The rally was intended to drum up support for President Barack Obama’s jobs plan, which died Tuesday in the U.S. Senate. But speakers used the platform for varied causes, including condemning state laws requiring voter identification at the polls and protesting the recent execution of Troy Davis, a Georgia man convicted of killing an off-duty police officer. Davis maintained his innocence until his death and attracted thousands of supporters worldwide.
Chanting for jobs and justice, many demonstrators carried banners for their labor unions and wore pins or T-shirts bearing King’s likeness.
Sharpton, the featured speaker at the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice, blasted the Senate for its failure to pass Obama’s nearly $450 billion jobs bill. The measure includes an extension of a payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, as well as money to help local governments keep teachers and other workers on the job.
Obama and Senate Democratic leaders plan to try to pass elements of the measure by breaking it into pieces.
“If you can’t get the jobs bill done in the suites, then we will get the jobs bill done in the streets,” Sharpton said to cheers and applause.
He told the crowd that King would have supported their cause “because he stood for those who were cast down and cast back.” King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III, was also among the speakers.
“Over 45 years ago, my father talked about a redistribution of wealth. In fact, that is probably why he was killed,” King said. “Because he said if America is going to survive responsibly, then it must have a redistribution of wealth.”
