Nearly all the crowd was white. Many had T-shirts supporting different tea party organizations, a grassroots movement which opposes big government in non-military matters.

Watch Nico Colombant's Report:

But Beck's rally was not the only one laying claim to the Martin Luther King Jr. legacy.

Civil rights groups marched and sang in a rival event called "Reclaim the Dream", that took place at a local high school.

A competing rally in Washington Saturday highlighted a different vision for America's future.

Clifton Arrington, who attended King's "I Have a Dream" speech 47 years ago, led a group of marchers from the New Jersey-based rights group, People's Organization for Progress. "I think there needs to be a lot more work to be done in the United States of America and freedom and justice is not what it should be for all people. That is why we are still marching and trying to realize the dream," he said.

He had no comment on the other rally, but another participant, Tehuti Imhotep was angry. "If a wolf puts on sheep's clothing that does not mean it is no longer a wolf. It is still the wolf in sheep's clothing. So if you disguise racism of today in another way, like Beck, it is the same form of racism," he said.

Watch Raw Footage From the "Reclaim the Dream" Rally:

Many at the "Reclaim the Dream" rally felt the tea party movement started in opposition to Barack Obama, the first African American U.S. president.