under $93 billion out of the pentagon budget. the signal with that is that the mistakes his staff going to be in a position to intervene to a more peaceful and stable world. >> she can once this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> book tv continues million jones from the 13th annual national book festival on the national mall must in d.c. this is about 45 minutes.

>> something wonderfully in common with the author aisle but introduce. i'm a graduate of the universe of wisconsin, milwaukee. begin the university of wisconsin. i say the university of wisconsin milwaukee we should not be confused with madison. people from the madison campus have to sit there for the nrc of wisconsin madison. that is this, the legendary former editor of the "washington post" once said that news is the first rough draft of history. news is the first rough draft of

history. we barely mentioned this guy off. we did not put the i have a dream section of the speech and that. ec steel explain more this tree of leading up to seven and which we have memorialized. not just a historian and expert on labor patterns and other things that should be of great interest to us now because within the next ten days we could see a major labor shut down at the government shuts

down. the originators of the march to get the federal government into their employment practices. he also talks about the record of the civil rights movement as it really was. ladies and gentlemen to raise going to speak for prole 35 minutes. then he will be glad to answer your questions. is with great honor and pleasure that i introduce to you the author of the march on washington jobs, freedom, and the freedom hester's of rights.

>> a professor at the university of wisconsin milwaukee. thanks for all of you for coming out and listening. i will put these down so that i don't knock them off. it is really great to be able to talk about this book here or as the event that i describe in turn makes sense of and is also rich real the talk about and on the 50th anniversary the meaning of the march, a legacy of the march, and the degree to which we as a nation have lived up to the dream the organizers

of the march. i did not actually set out to write this book. i was doing research on what i thought would be a different book. and discovered a really fascinating collection of papers connected to the negro american labor council. this is -- or by a service to call a lesser rights organization, lazar forgotten. i knew something about it i found a collection. the great african american labor leader to propose the march on washington 20 years earlier to protest imply discrimination in the defense industry and segregation and discrimination in the armed forces. so i knew something about it. but i was surprised to discover

that it was actually reorganization that initiated and did much of the initial organizing for the march on washington in 1963. your perhaps one of the greatest known and best known events in american history. and i had somebody do something about american history and had no idea that this was really the organization that has started it . i discovered a number of things initially beyond that. the original aim of the march was to address what they saw as the threat, and impending threat of unemployment in black communities, mostly in african-american communities in the urban north. and they tie this to what they call the the time the automation of industry, the increasing use of technology and manufacturing which as they saw was starting

to eliminate the jobs that african-americans had started to get in the past two years. they had fought hard for these jobs in automobile plants, steel mills largely across the our north. the initial idea was actually to demand to things. one was of federal law banning employment discrimination. they said if these jobs that were in our going to be eliminated, we need the ability to move into higher skilled jobs that paid jobs. the federal government needs to ensure that ability. the the thing, how broad federal jobs creation program aimed at eliminating employment for both black or white, workers of any race. and discovery of the initial roots of the event that is so well-known it was in misunderstood that me to rethink

that is the history of the march, but the history of what we now think of as a civil rights movement class flocked of the institutional roots of the march in the way that much was connected to a much like it if it's a bit upsetting leftists in 1941 with the first idea from much of washington were really going back. is help me understand a new way the origins and the purpose of the march had trouble when mr. bush knew what it means to us today 50 years later and what we really need to know the complex history took the eager,. the tremendous size and power of the march that occurred in 1962 which is often seen as the sort of spontaneous event. monolithic king says mimi it

helped lincoln memorial and a quarter million people show up here. there is no real sense of have essentially happens. have you get people to do that? this is on a westlake. they were people who came -- his top toward, what they almost always occur on a saturday sunday. at the beginning in mid week the negro american labor council was a critical and forgotten link in this story. it was founded in 1960, but it drew on networks, personal networks and institutional networks that went back really to deliver uprisings of the 1930's and 1940's, many of the people with leaders and worked

with a philip randolph to build the margin 1941 which was ultimately called off at the last minute. they had always thought, someday we will redo this. they saw the 1963 rice is a continuation of something that haven't in 19 -- that happened 20 years earlier the negro american labor counsel when it is mentioned, the scene from historians, paper organization, something that was the head of the did not really have an organization behind it. he did not have an organization. undiscovered was the negro american labor council was composed of several thousand black trade union mostly in the urban north stretching all the way from the york, chicago,

detroit, los angeles, some smaller branches in atlanta, new ones. these people, it was the relatively small organization. elected officials, staff members of local unions, many of them are also president or officials of local civil rights organizations. and so their work in a tremendous position to mobilize people. and there were really the people that laid the basis for this massive crowd that will show up in august of 1963. i also discovered an important brega of the mobilization in black women's organizations, the key figure in this story is our own management.

somebody is really one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement and almost completely forgotten and left out of the history. the 1940's to and employment discrimination. she was one of the first people return to when he wants to renew this march in 1963. and she did two things that are really critical. one, she encouraged him to reach out to the national council of negro women which was actually the largest organization of african americans. a. philip randolph to reach out to the organization, but they refuse to do a really critical thing. suggested that he invite the leaders, primarily toward the

night, the president of the national council of negro women to be in the official. he refused to do that and actually set up a battle that would really be a critical battle. the emergence of feminism in the 1960's. so he was sort of partial successful in this one critical intervention. the other in which he was more successful was that she was the person who encouraged a philip randolph to reach out to mike luther king, the most prominent leader of the movement that emerged in the south of the previous ten years to battle segregation and disfranchised in the south. very close connections to this southern wing of the civil-rights movement as did most of the members of the negro american labor council.

they've played important roles in raising money for a movement of workers in the 1950's. a. philip randolph actually played a very key strategic mineral in sending the support and also his protege who is the most important expert in the tactic of non-violence, civil disobedience coming gandhian non-violence. actually went to montgomery and taught my nitpicking about the strategy that had first been implemented in the march in 1941. so these very important connections, a movement that is very well known but very deeply misunderstood. it was actually a meeting between king and randolph. out of this meeting they said, let's not just much for jobs, let's have a much for jobs and freedom.

and again it becomes very critical for the success of that mobilization. it was the link between these roughly number n7 wings of the black freedom struggle that really came together to make this a tremendous an historic event. , it helps us understand legal equality seraphic americans coupled with economic justice for all americans and the principal idea that those two things will never happen in isolation. jobs and freedom. set this up very clearly in the opening address to the official program at the lincoln memorial.

most of us know the event through martin luther king have a dream speech. the first beach at that event was given by a philip randolph who at the time was the most important and widely recognized civil rights leader. and he was widely known particularly for people with been there. for our way allies know that they cannot be free while we are not. we know that we have no future in a society in which 6 million black and white people are unemployed. one thing that is remarkable about this speech, it is a tremendous speech.

it is available on-line the way in which the set the tone for the and the speakers that they allege the exodus point of the connection between economic justice and racial equality, the importance of full employment sort of constitutional equality. it think it's important for understanding the speech have we do know well-known around the world. last spring in peru in a small town walking down the street it

was a naturally i have a dream in the school. and that's not what is going on? actually ask around. a lot of people use the text of that speech to teach people in this. as an here learning english, running about the united states. any of us who are familiar with the speech, we know why. give the last of ten speeches clinton speeches given. these were officials beaches also smaller speeches. people sang. it was the end of a two-hour program. by that time and live the king came to this stage there was no

chance that anybody was there and could have forgotten what the major goals of the march were. there have been laid out very clearly in his speech. they have been said over and over and over again by the other eight speakers, and this is actually possible that by the time my nitpicking got there he felt that some of the things are closest to him, the struggle for integration says they have been overshadowed by the goals of economic justice integration. getting access to a restaurant does not mean anything if he can't afford to eat dinner, which is true but downplays the significance of getting access to a restaurant. it is possible lifting might have thought the time he got to stagy and to bring people back to the struggle in the south, which she did so powerfully.

he actually had a speech prepared that really emphasized this sort of dual agenda, this connection between economic justice. he get halfway through the speech interrupted taxed. he actually put it his -- the first gave his avarice peace to the afl-cio. espy's that was well known and so i think by the time he got there it was hard for people to not know what this was about. at think if we only look at that speech will get the sense that we will and a more narrow view of what the speech was about it meets some actually noted the irony.

his house had been bombed several times. does it the assaulted several science is ironic, the guy had suffered the most give the most optimistic than the most reconciliatory speech. carnation is going to fulfill its promise. the new york times reporter said meanwhile the other speakers concentrated on the struggle ahead and spoke in harsh and direct language. again we have taken the speech, the optimistic one, the almost completed forgotten of the speeches.

if anyone actually for devil was happening that day, a philip randolph and-and came back to the stage right after he gave his speech and read the full demands of the march. they fill the goal of the march. one journalist remarked that the -- when he gave that speech all the major national television networks said all of their television cameras trained on by rest of. this was one of the first events that was broadcast your intent to five through satellites, satellite television network. answer europeans on this live no

message 110 so radical an ever ventura -- heard by summoning americans a yes in ending the wanted just know the degree to which this longer history in this context is important for understanding what the meaning of the march is for us today and a legacy that i hope we can take away from this is a tremendous historical events. and understand that context and not give you a little bit more. two months before the march on washington he gave it a tremendous speech on split civil rights calling a press conference. the context was that this was the week that there really horrific clashes that many of us

are familiar with, and then seen in children being attacked by police guards, fire hoses, this image, they related to protests that it just occurred. other reluctant to take counsel arise directly in force in the take this on he really rose to the occasion coming in a tremendous speech in which he said the issue of racial equality is a moral issue. as old as the scripture and as clear as the constitution. he called on congress to pass the civil rights act that would uphold the moral issue. in fact in years before this the u.s. supreme court had reached a similar verdict in the brown decision in which they will now legal segregation was a violation of the constitutional rights of african-americans.

so it's important to keep in mind that the march occurred after those things happen. the point was actually not to make a moral statement about the need for racial equality which is the way in which we often remembered. they included passing the civil rights bill cops but more importantly we need a much more powerful bill than the one the kennedy is talking about. all the things that were added to the bill as a result of the demands of the march were not about the moral principles of racial equality. have you actually get there. it said the federal government has to take strong responsibility for enforcing legal equality. it wanted to pass a federal law making it illegal to this caribbean somebody on the basis of race, withdraw federal

funding for many local government that discriminated against their citizens in the form of housing and schools. it won the desegregate every school in the country by the end of the year. the one to pass of voting rights law that would withdraw congressional representation on any state where people were denied the right to vote. the legal policies that we need to make sure this moral statement is upheld. they also wanted to address this issue of economic justice, and party employment discrimination law, but they also stand back and to find a level that would provide a family with the ability to reach a decent standard of living. at the time that would be

roughly $2 an hour. in today's terms of about $14 an hour. they wanted to extend the minimum wage to cover agriculture workers, domestic workers, public employees, all of who were excluded from the original federal minimum wage laws, and they want to a federal job creation and training program that would put all unemployed workers black or white in meaningful and dignified jobs at a living wage. at the regency and number of respects in which these demands were met. in the law that was passed in 1964 became the sole rights act made it illegal to discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, nationality, religion, or sex.

the gender and discrimination component was actually an important part of an outgrowth of the debate that emerge as a result of dirty harry. she in a number of women decided after a much that they could no longer take the position that any discrimination on the basis of race will be enough to end discrimination against black women. black women need to also ensure an end to discrimination based upon gender. this is an important moment in the emergence of that feminist movement in the 1960's. a number of them or not. the minimum wage was far behind the standard that there were calling for by that point it was

ten years later. the value declined the movement afoot to try no raise the minimum wage. some people tried the propose a $15 minimum wage which is roughly equivalent to what they're calling for. the important thing i want to leave you with is the context today, particularly in terms of the recent supreme court decisions this past summer. in two cases the supreme court to 53 cases the supreme court directly ruled on the legacy of the march on washington. employment discrimination. in all three cases the supreme

court upheld the moral value of racial equality we believe that everyone has the right to be treated equally regardless of their race. these are consistent beliefs with the u.s. constitution, and in in every case the supreme court turned around and eliminated the enforcement measures that were deemed necessary to uphold that moral commitment. and in many ways we can see this same debate that we saw in 1963 which again is not really about a moral statement but how you achieve racial equality in reality. we are often tempted to see the march on washington as the end of a struggle, one in which ended the system of segregation and legalized racial equality in the south. agree should remember it that way. a tremendous victory. the we also need to understand

and it was in many ways the beginning of the struggle over what the reality in a complex international economy is for actually achieving equality before the law. thank you. [applause] >> i think we have to minutes. and be happy to take questions. >> i have read the book. there is story that i think was -- hundreds of stories of how he changed his mind and gave the i have a jury speech. a story that when they were doing this the kennedy family brought the man. to make it too long.

and so the story was that he had a speech. otello baggage train. >> i argue perris strong that they had a pretty direct hand in shaping the march. they tried that. wisely unsuccessful. i . out that lewis gave a remarkably radical speech and one that even he says was not -- the message was not changed so the story that i heard is that she was sitting behind him. she sang before him.

sitting behind in saying, but the dream. that was right about the money thruways scripted speech. there were talk about it. don't give that speech. you give it too many times. it's tried. it's not appropriate for this tremendous of. and so he decided not to. the last minute he taste coarse. and number of people heard jackson say this then very close relationships and i think he felt this speech that was very kind of well scripted and really

confined to the general message of the march was not going over the well. >> thank you for sharing this important research. a 1-or about the gender verses race issue. her interaction with a philip randolph. i was wondering whether not in a book or you have inside. and in the logical difference our personal difference in terms of approach or was it more than the huge debt the lesser role of women. patty expressed this?

the family is completely.

in this is a position that was shared by most labor activists in the early 20th-century united states. most civil rights leader said, what we need to do is give the black man the ability to win their ninth job, whether they're white does not need to go in the labour market to my children don't go in the labour market. the reality was that entire black families are working. many black women shared this view. rota very powerful people. that's what we want. the question was and this was raised by a number of women, black when are already in the work force. in the better jobs, the ability to earn a wage. allegis going to walk away? the we going to fight for better jobs to make them was a debate that immersed within the

movement. many black women were conflicted over how to respond to this. it really important figure in the story or leon said this is got to end guy and we need to fight sex discrimination as vehemently as we fight race discrimination. she was the person who played a critical role in getting that tax discrimination baena added to the civil rights act. and don't think it was so much -- it was than ideological division but and ideological debate that many of the actor's face for internally conflicted about, but when they push said debate. he came to resent this. >> i can hear you. >> that was a related debate. and they -- the position that a gillibrand of and robin took was

that women were represented by the man on the stage. and lots of these organizations are predominantly women. well, women are represented. that was enough. but i think he was related in this sort of what the main goals of the movement or. >> yes. >> my question is, dr. wright appears on the stage during the presentation, the march. can you talk about how she operationally had an impact on the march? not officially a part of the march. he became known as one of the big six.

part of that answer is a very long history of the national council of negro women supporting specifically the movement. plated important role in connecting the national council of negro women to the labor activism by 1963 she was well-known among all the leaders of these movements. her sitting on the stage is actually part of a compromise that resulted a. philip randolph and picked him when he spoke at the national press club. this led to a crisis. to allow a number of women to sit on the stage, to allow a woman to speak briefly and

introduce other women so that this would initially be robinson and it became daisy bates. actually gave a speech in which he introduced reza parks and number of other women. token chance for women to appear at the march, but not give an official march. but dorothy height actually, meet the national council of negro women at headquarters the night of the march, right after the march and which a number of women started to of in a sense plotted campaign to challenge sex discrimination within the movement. and she played a pivotal role. she had often said, we cannot allow this debate to arm the broader movement. she starred of kutcher challenge

and so right after the march. and she talks about this in her memoir. she and a number of other women said this is enough. from that moment on it took a very direct role in challenging discrimination. >> i wanted to ensure you something. no came to of washington early in 1963 to join a returned peace corps volunteer a lot of programs are starting with kennedy. one of the feelings then and in it too much is this year was that building of beloved community. it sounds a little, but something happened in those marches they never had happen in your life. secondly after the march jfk was the assassinated. sixty-five not a tax. among live the king, robert

kennedy. in vietnam. so it's wonderful, an observation. >> yes. >> one of the best things about writing this book is ben to talk to people about their own memories. one of the things i've been struck by a combined meeting in number of people as i already knew were friends of mine after a finish the book said no, yeah. now was there and told me about their experiences. people who were difference of one have no idea. that experience of participating in two of a lot of people of the time recognize that there were experiencing a revolutionary event and one that was really profound. at think it's a rare experience. think in terms of assessing the impact and the legacy of the march it tries to balance.

a tendency to point to the limitation of the progress. and that think many people have concluded that the mushroom did not do anything. it is important to recognize the limitations of that but also to recognize that this was the revolutionary event that really did profoundly change our country and very positive lice. perhaps it's impossible to do both at the same time. think we need to. >> is one more question, and the morale of time. >> and just curious of dr. king and given the speech several times. the los been posted not cover it. when does it become the iconic speech that we now consider it? >> this is important in understanding the legacy of the march and is not until after dr. king's death, his assassination in 1968. in large part because it was such an optimistic speech it was one that people could look back

to at the moment of his assassination, the. in which many people felt the objectives that have been laid out had not been achieved. in solar was up a message. the one casualty is it becomes the only way in which we understood the march. so they rediscovered the speech and it has actually been remarkable that we remember speech that was given by a black radical 50 years ago. that in itself is remarkable. we remember it in a way that i think this is the context in which it was given. ..

author of "medicare meltdown: how wall street and washington are ruining medicare and how to fix it," and josh blackman, author of "unprecedented: the constitutional challenge to obamacare." we begin with northern illinois university professor, beatrix hoffmann talking about her book, "health care for some: rights and rationing in the united states since 1930". >> in july of 1938, the roosevelt administration organized a national conference on health care reform. the great depression had been going on for nearly a decade. fdr had signed the social security act and the fair labor standards act in