# Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech: What's up with the white hats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063 "2013-08-24T17:00:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/21 "2013-08-31T14:03:08Z")
Try telling that to the teeming millions \*sic[/] if Orthodox Jews in NYC… I’m with the Gandhi faction here, with the short-order cooks unionizing as my backup. It’s not like it was a wood carving of a rally in Munich in 1409, people. Those steps were crammed with people. Can’t we find more than one cite? I’m gonna write the NAACP right now to ask. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/22 "2013-09-01T15:26:17Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Try telling that to the teeming millions _sic_ of Orthodox Jews in NYC… Well, Orthodox Jews were never known for their fashion sense. Okay, what this thread has produced is not a single reason for the white hats, but several reasons and several different hats. I’m going out on a limb to say that ALL of these hypotheses are true. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/23 "2013-09-01T15:58:04Z")
King’s nonviolent movement was strongly associated with Gandhi-ism and the use of the Gandhi cap. There’s no reason to believe it’s anything else. [Washington Post, February 2009](http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-02-18/world/36862177_1_gandhi-s-salt-march-mahatma-gandhi-bus-boycott): > [@](#): > > A few Indian college students gathered around a photograph of King Jr. giving the “I Have a Dream” speech. The photo showed two African American men wearing white, pointed **caps in the style of Gandhi**. [_A Turn in the South_ by V.S. Naipaul](http://books.google.com/books?id=2M34SeDybZUC&pg=PT97&dq=%22martin+luther+king%22+%22gandhi+cap%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LWEjUsHqIJD_rAGKtYGYCw&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22martin%20luther%20king%22%20%22gandhi%20cap%22&f=false): > [@](#): > > The walls of the inner office were hung with many big black-and-white photographs of the civil-rights marches: . . . But the most moving photographs were those that stressed simpler things: . . . like the Gandhi cap and the homespun of India. _[Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr.](http://books.google.com/books?id=FYpBqNiZSu0C&q=%22martin+luther+king%22+%22gandhi+cap%22&dq=%22martin+luther+king%22+%22gandhi+cap%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LWEjUsHqIJD_rAGKtYGYCw&ved=0CEsQ6AEwAg)_ by Stephen B. Oates: > [@](#): > > In the days that followed, King toured New Delhi in a Gandhi cap … [“I have a dream …,” _The Hindu_, August 2013](http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/i-have-a-dream/article5056710.ece): > [@](#): > > It was a time for change to ‘rise from the quick sand of racial injustices’, proclaimed in front of the statue of Abraham Lincoln, who fought the first war against slavery. The sea of thousands of men and women, **many wearing Gandhi caps** , influenced by the Mahatma’s struggle for human rights; independence through non-violence as a world truth. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/24 "2013-09-01T16:00:44Z")
Because they go so well with a Nehru jacket? ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/25 "2013-09-01T17:35:55Z")
Odd that this should come up because every time I see the clip, first thing that comes to mind is to think of the guy standing right behind MLK as that ‘Pizza Delivery Guy’ ---
**Author:** ![yanniha3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f9ae1b/32.png) [@yanniha3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanniha3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/26 "2025-08-14T01:57:58Z")
All these answers are interesting. I see it’s been 12 years since the last post. But here is the Answer… According to Dr. King’s sister. The men in white hats standing behind Dr. King during the March on Washington when he was delivering the I Have a Dream speech were members of the Baker’s Union. This, according to King’s sister Mrs. Christine King Farris, who mentions it in her book “Through It All.” She says they were helping to provide security that day. It’s estimated that 50k of the 200+K people who attended the March were members of a trade union. The official name of the march was _The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom._ ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/27 "2025-08-14T02:01:51Z")
NM zombie ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/28 "2025-08-14T02:25:42Z")
Pfui. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/29 "2025-08-14T04:17:30Z")
Thank you. I had always assumed that it was kufi cap. I wonder how many white Americans, like me, thought that it was a show of solidarity between King and Islamists? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/30 "2025-08-14T13:56:18Z")
[Maybe not just Bakers’ Union.](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/23/us/march-on-washington-anniversary-memories.html) (If you don’t wanna read, an organization of firefighters also worked wearing white hats and an armband with the letter “M.” The writer says a lot had day jobs as firefighters and policemen.) I found another article from a subsequent march where members of the UAW were wearing white hats. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/31 "2025-08-14T15:47:57Z")
Yeah, but the question wasn’t about who wore white caps back then, it was about a specific group of people that stood behind Dr. King during that speech. ---
**Author:** ![yanniha3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f9ae1b/32.png) [@yanniha3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanniha3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/32 "2025-08-14T16:58:21Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![yanniha3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f9ae1b/32.png) [@yanniha3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanniha3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/33 "2025-08-14T17:05:51Z")
I am specifically referring to the men standing behind King while he was delivering the I Have a Dream Speech. They were members of the Baker’s Union. Those are Baker’s hats. And trust me, the fire and police men’s hats looked nothing like it. ---
**Author:** ![yanniha3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/f9ae1b/32.png) [@yanniha3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanniha3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/34 "2025-08-14T17:12:51Z")
You’re Welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/35 "2025-08-14T21:26:11Z")
Can you provide a cite that shows the men in white hats behind Dr. King were part of the Bakers Union? From the text of the Mrs. Farris’s book I found a passing reference to the Bakers Union providing security, but I couldn’t find where it specifically mentioned that they and they alone were the chaps in question. As I noted in my link, firefighters also policemen also volunteered as marshals. I’ll let the weird comment about police and firefighter hats go, as it is at odds with the documented account. Not trying to be a contrarian for the sake of being contrary, but to come down foursquare on thei specific identities of those specific gents this late in the game requires some extraordinary evidence, and I just didn’t see it in the source you provided. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/36 "2025-08-15T09:38:38Z")
> [@yanniha3](#): > > You’re Welcome. So are you ! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/37 "2025-08-15T10:48:59Z")
According to this article, they were fire fighters and police who had volunteered to be security: I had no idea about the march, or anything about the civil rights movement at all. Things were moving quite well for me. I had a great job as a New York City fireman, and my wife worked in a bank. I received a phone call from the Vulcans, an organization of black New York City firemen, to come to a meeting. I was hesitant and said to my wife, “I don’t want to get involved in any of this civil rights stuff.” She said, “Civil rights stuff? We have this nice apartment, you have your job, I have my job at the bank because of the civil rights stuff.” So I went. We got assigned to guard the Lincoln Memorial area. They gave us a badge, an armband and a white hat. Who the men were in the white hats is a little-known fact, even today. They were policemen and firefighters working as security people. > **[Witnesses to History, 50 Years Later](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/23/us/march-on-washington-anniversary-memories.html)** > > The New York Times asked readers who attended the March on Washington to recall their experiences and reflect on the legacy of that day. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/38 "2025-08-15T11:49:32Z")
Missed the dit, but: “We were surrounded by dignitaries, James Baldwin, a lot of movie stars. I was standing right behind Martin, but I was getting autographs from all the movie stars and writers because I recognized them and not him.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/39 "2025-08-15T13:00:41Z")
Can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something strangely familiar about that article. 🧐 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063/40 "2025-08-15T13:07:34Z")
I hadn’t clicked on that link. Unless he’s lying, I think the answer is that they were firefighters and police who volunteered to do security. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-luther-kings-i-have-a-dream-speech-whats-up-with-the-white-hats/667063.md?page=3)