Poverty: Solidarity & Disarray

The surface similarities were striking. Five hundred buses converged on the muggy capital. A vast crowd—half white, half black—marched from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. Placards identified them as "Sisters of Watts" and "Concerned Citizens from Slippery Rock"; costumes identified them as Indians and Mexican-Americans, hippies and middle-class citizens of all shades. Young people waded thigh-deep in the Mall's giant reflecting pool, and families sprawled on the grass for picnics of fried chicken, chitlins and all manner of exotic salads. Even the numbing, five-hour drone of songs (four), speeches...

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