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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah minister participated in the original civil rights march in Washington 50 years ago, and said he is surprised at the disparity that still exists in America.
France Davis, now pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, went to the Washington Mall at 16 years old in 1963 because he sensed something big was going on that day.
Fifty years later, his memory of the march, the people and Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech is more powerful than ever.
The leader of this baptist congregation for almost 40 years, his work has been guided, in part, by the vivid memories of the march being celebrated in Washington DC this week.
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Tens of thousands of people marched to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and down the National Mall on Saturday, commemorating the 50th anniversary of King's famous speech and pledging that his dream includes equality for gays, Latinos, the poor and the disabled."There was something for people of all kinds of backgrounds, and the speech itself was a piece of genius, it was a work of genius," Davis said. "The greatest assembly for one cause this capitol has ever seen."
A feeling overcomes Pastor Davis when he sees footage of the march: the power of sparking change through non-violence. Standing about halfway down the Washington Mall, he listened to speeches that day and he said the atmosphere became electric when King took the stage.
"I believe it was divinely inspired. I believe that Dr. King was concerned not just about a particular group of people, but about everybody," Davis said. "The speech and the event were designed to bring people together, regardless of who they were."
As significant as the memory is, as powerful as the speech was, Davis said in some ways racism is worse today. He points out that job opportunities and education are lacking for minorities and racist attitudes are openly displayed.
"We've come a long ways, but we still have a long ways to go. And I'm shocked we haven't made more progress after 50 years than we really have," Davis said.
