FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Myth: The main goal of the 1963 March on Washington was to eliminate racial discrimination.
Not true: While the march and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in particular did call for racial equality and civil rights legislation, the event also had an economic component, including a call for a higher minimum wage. Organizers of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom also demanded a public works program and job training, and an end to discrimination in hiring, among other things.