WALLACE: One of the big controversies about this event was the date, the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King's “I have a dream” speech. You say it was a coincidence but you also say it was divine providence because you wanted to reclaim the civil rights movement -- reclaim from whom? Reclaim from what?

BECK: How about, who is reclaiming? People of faith -- reclaiming from politics. I've read headline after headline after headline this week that the damage that I have done to racial politics. My gosh, who thinks racial politics? Who's typing that out and saying, “Yes, the damage that has been to racial politics” and thinks that's a good thing? Race should not be in politics. Race is a negative that is a heart condition quite honestly. And the people that -- and I don't -- I got a lot of heat this week from people saying, “Oh, you're saying you were part of the civil” -- I wasn't even born. I wasn't even born.

I -- you know, I lived in the Pacific Northwest. I can't even begin to relate but I can understand it intellectually and I can also begin to understand it in the heart when you see justice not done. We're seeing justice perverted on both sides for a very long time. Reclaim the civil rights -- meaning people of faith that look at equal justice and look at every man the same. That's who needs to reclaim it -- not the politicians, not the parties, not white people or black people -- people of faith.

WALLACE: But, Glenn, the civil rights movement always had an agenda beyond just equality, beyond just -- quote -- “justice.” The full name of the march, 47 years ago, was “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

BECK: Right.

WALLACE: One of the speakers at the event was a labor leader, A. Philip Randolph, who talked about the injustice of people who live in poverty. John Lewis -- then a student, now a congressman -- said this at the event: “We need a bill that will ensure the equality of a maid who earns $5 a week in the home of a family whose total income is $100,000 a year.” The civil rights movement was always about an economic agenda.

BECK: Well, you know what, Chris? I think that is part of it, but that's a part of it that I don't agree with. I think the bigger part -- the thing that we fail to recognize is that is the racial politics. The real agenda should be equal justice and equal shot. The dream was judge a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. That's something that everybody can take part in. And I don't know if we've actually done that.

We're certainly not doing that now with the Justice Department. When you look at somebody, the Black Panthers, and they're standing at the doorway, African-Americans who experienced that themselves should be equally outraged, and when you see that happening in a community and somebody is intimidating black voters, you should be equally outraged. Those are the main principles. Now, how we govern, that's --

WALLACE: Wait, wait. Let me ask you about that, though, because Martin Luther King was assassinated when he was leading the poor people's campaign. He advocated what he called an economic bill of rights guaranteeing everyone a job. I mean, you may say, well, that's not your civil rights movement, but it was Martin Luther King's.

BECK: Well, I'm not Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King would have to stand for Martin Luther King. Let his words stand where they are. What I'm talking about is -- and look, Chris, I didn't intentionally put it on 8-28. The message is about God and faith. The message that I gave on the steps today was that you need to stand for those things that are right and empower the individual. Believe in the power of one person. Don't believe that you can't do it. Everybody wants -- everybody wants a shot. That we can all agree on. Beyond that, it becomes politics. I'm not talking politics.

Previously:

REPORT: Martin Luther King would have been on Glenn Beck's chalkboard

Glenn Beck “reclaims” the civil rights movement

Beck says his 8-28 rally will “reclaim the civil rights movement. ... We were the people that did it in the first place”