Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510160107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
With organizers predicting one of the largest demonstrations ever in the nation's capital, and law enforcement officers preparing for significant disruptions in the city's routine, the march already has focused widespread attention on the concerns of black men and on the event's controversial originator, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
But much about the event - including how many people will attend - remained uncertain Saturday. On the Mall, the site of the demonstration, hundreds of portable toilets were in place, but work on the stage had not begun and organizers did not make public who will speak from the platform or what they will say. A steady drizzle turned the site into mud.
Some early arrivals already were on hand surveying the scene, however, and there were signs that several major East Coast cities would send substantial delegations.
The participants are responding to Farrakhan's call for black men to redefine themselves by gathering in a solemn display of unity. But whether the march will serve as a unifying or divisive force was perhaps the event's central unresolved question.
Farrakhan, who has for years been accused of racism and anti-Semitism, continued to come under fire Saturday for remarks criticizing Jews that were made public Friday. The Rev. Benjamin Chavis, a senior march organizer who was ousted last year as executive director of the NAACP, criticized the NAACP Saturday after saying the organization had held a news conference to condemn the march, but NAACP officials said no such news conference took place. And a robust debate continued over whether the march could be separated from Farrakhan's often inflammatory views.
The demonstration has won guarded support from a wide range of black leaders who hope it will ignite a new consciousness among black men to take greater responsibility for their families and communities. Saturday, some of the demonstration's early arrivals hoped that will be the result.
Michael Harris, a marketing manager for a Chicago health services firm, said he came here to help present a new face of black men to the world. ``You have a dichotomy,'' he said. ``You have the `Super [expletive]' over here, doing a thousand wonderful things, or you see the criminal. You don't see the many black men in between who are working and taking care of their families.''
But on the other hand, pollster Ron Lester said, ``I think the potential exists for the march to be a polarizing event; it all depends on what happens on Oct. 16. If it proves to be a unifying, uplifting program for black men, then everybody benefits. A lot of what happens depends on how the march is played out and what people perceive the day after.''
The march is pricking the nation's racial consciousness at a time when deep divisions have been exposed by the verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial. Polls found that large majorities of black Americans approved of the verdict, while equally large numbers of whites condemned it - results that once again confirmed the chasm between the races.
Farrakhan has long been a polarizing figure, issuing a barrage of statements that have offended not only Jews and other ethnic groups but many in the black community. In an interview released Friday, he accused some Jews and others of exploiting blacks economically and called them ``bloodsuckers.'' Those remarks continued to reverberate Saturday.
``Black people make money off the black community,'' Abraham Foxman, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, told the Associated Press. ``Do they put it back, and if they do not, does he call them bloodsuckers? The man has constantly, consistently been a racist, a bigot and an anti-Semite.''
Julian Bond, an NAACP board member and veteran civil rights activist who does not support the march, was among those concerned that participation in the demonstration would be interpreted as an endorsement of Farrakhan's views. ``It is clear from what Farrakhan's lieutenants are saying that they are taking everyone who comes to the march as a Farrakhan supporter,'' he said.
Even House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., weighed in. On CNN, he called Farrakhan's ``bloodsuckers'' remarks ``astonishing ... [they] are bigoted, they are hateful, they are reprehensible. And I don't think any responsible black leader should stand on the same platform or appear on the same march with Louis Farrakhan unless he apologizes and withdraws his remarks.''
But for a number of people who will be attending the march, the controversy seemed, if not irrelevant, at most a distracting sideshow.
``For me, Farrakhan is a little issue,'' said Desmond Murray, 35, a college administrator who also goes by the name Bakari Adeyemi. Murray helped organize several busloads of people coming from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
``We are coming to Washington to make a statement,'' he said. ``We are coming together to take a stand ... to say to ourselves as much as anything, that we can be unified.''
Ken Banks of Pikesville, Md., is coming with his 15-year-old son and 75-year-old uncle, who lives in Albany, N.Y. ``We talk maybe three, four times a year,'' Banks said. ``But he called and said he wanted to do this. We both think it important for black people to stand together.''
Added Bill Clay, who owns a fishing resort in Anchorage, but is taking time off to come: ``[It] is important for black men to get their own image and not follow the image of what other people think we are. It is time to stop raising kids under the idea that we are second-class citizens.''
Authorities say there is little sign that the march will meet its ambitious goal of attracting 1 million black men. Such a showing would be astounding: It would be the equivalent of about one in nine of the nation's black males over age 18. One of the largest political demonstrations ever held in Washington was the 1969 Vietnam War protest that drew 600,000 people. The storied 1963 March on Washington at which the Rev. Martin Luther King gave his ``I Have a Dream'' speech drew about 250,000 people.
There are indications that Monday's march could draw an audience of more than 100,000: Organizers in Atlanta expect to send 10,000, organizers in Philadelphia expect to send 40,000, and organizers in New York have reserved a convoy of 200 buses for Monday, according to media reports.
What participants will hear is as yet unknown. Farrakhan is slated to deliver one of several keynote addresses, and organizers say the poet Maya Angelou will read a new work, but no list of speakers or topics has been released. Planners have said they hope the event will launch a new wave of political activity that would include formulating a black political agenda and raising money for a political action committee.
Now on the Net: the Million Man March. See http://www.infi.net.roatimes /webpaper/news.shtml
by CNB