Which 1968 campaign brought poor Americans to Washington, D.C., to demand economic justice?
Answer
Poor People’s Campaign
The Poor People’s Campaign brought poor Americans to Washington, D.C., in 1968 to demand economic justice.
Martin Luther King Jr. announced the campaign as an effort to unite poor people across racial and regional lines. Its demands included jobs, unemployment insurance, affordable housing, education, and a guaranteed income. After King’s assassination in April 1968, Ralph Abernathy and other Southern Christian Leadership Conference leaders continued the campaign.
Protesters built a temporary settlement called Resurrection City on the National Mall. The campaign began with a major march on May 12, 1968, and continued for several weeks before authorities cleared the encampment in June.
The campaign differed from Freedom Summer, which focused on voting rights and political participation in Mississippi in 1964. Its central theme was economic inequality affecting poor people of all racial backgrounds.