American Notes CIVIL RIGHTS

"I'm happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." Those opening words of Martin Luther King Jr.'s landmark "I Have a Dream" speech have proved prescient. Last week King's followers -- including Democratic Presidential Nominee Michael Dukakis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson -- marked the 25th anniversary of the speech by retracing the 1963 March on Washington.

U.S. park police estimated Saturday's crowd at 55,000, far fewer than the 250,000 who heard King or attended the 20th-anniversary celebration in 1983. While the original march concerned the basic right to public access and the vote, the current agenda is more complicated. The rally listed more than a dozen legislative goals, including D.C. statehood, the ERA and comprehensive sanctions against South Africa.