oratory, but in sacrifice. there was enormous amount of bloodshed in the months and the immediate weeks leading up to this march 50 years ago. tell us what people standing on that mall would have been thinking about, about the level of sacrifice and violence that they were experiencing. well, first of all, a lot of people were afraid even to come to the march. don t let people kid you that it was a cakewalk. black people and white people were scared of it. the federal government, the district of columbia canceled liquor sales for the first time since prohibition, they were so scared. they canceled elective surgery, they stockpiled plasma, they had riot troops in the suburbs. major league baseball canceled not one, but two washington senators games, fearing that we would still be cleaning up from armageddon. so we were fearful. one reason the march on washington has such a patriotic glow today is that white america was immensely relieved. they were shocked! they were terrified. an