HAMPTON, Va. — 60 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a crowd of thousands while at the March on Washington, sharing a dream of equal rights for all.
While there are some people who believe the country as a whole has made strides toward his goal, there are those who believe those steps haven't been big enough.
Professor Robert Charles Watson with the history department of Hampton University said the March on Washington was a pivotal point in American history. While Dr. King desired changed in America, professor Watson said that change did not happen overnight.
"Change is incremental," said Professor Watson. "Eventually it happened, but it happened slowly."
According to Watson, the first wave of change came with the Civil Right Act in 1964 and the voting rights act in 1965. However, over the years there was a shift in progress.
"There are some steps that have trampled the rights of some," said Watson. "Voter suppression, for example, has come back to the way the country is operating now. Then you have women's rights, the rights of indigenous people, the rights of people who want to choose their sexual identity, which are all being rolled back."
Gaylene Kanoyton with the Hampton Branch of the NAACP said she has lived in Virginia since 1978 and since then, the state has taken strides forward.
"At one point we were the 49th hardest state to vote in, and now we are the 11th easiest state to vote in," said Kanoyton
The NAACP said there has also been steps backward in the state.
"We have seen poverty, transportation, employment all of the wrap around services that are needed in our cities and localities. Currently they are not there to the extent to move people of color and undeserved people forward," says Kanoyton.
Watson said there is potential for MLK's dream to come true in the years ahead.
"I think something that would need to happen between now and the next 20-25 years is that the whole climate of the country is going to have to evolve to one that was at least similar to what was going on in the 60s," said Watson. "Meaning there needs to be more involvement of the people who want to see positive change. I honestly think that is going to happen in the future."
While Martin Luther King Jr. had the dream, the vision and desire to create change in America, historians and advocates said it is to people today make that change a reality.
