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October 20, 1995 - Image 18

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1995-10-20

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

We Changed Our Name, Moved And
Reduced Everything Up To

Many Messages Heard
At Million Man March

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F

or weeks, Jewish leaders
had warned that the Mil-
lion Man March would be
a showcase for the anti-
Semitism and extremism of Na-
tion of Islam minister Louis
Farrakhan, who conceived and
organized the event.
But Monday's successful gath-
ering on the Mall in downtown
Washington had a decidedly mid-
dle-of-the-road flavor.
"I had to be here," said Ed, a
Philadelphia store owner who
was attending the march with
his three sons. "You have to hand
it to Farrakhan for making this
happen. But he isn't why I
brought my sons here; I brought
them because I want them to cel-
ebrate who they
are, and under-
stand their re-
sponsibilities."
That theme of
personal and
community re-
sponsibility per-
vaded Monday's
march.
Church groups
paraded through
the mass of men,
estimated by the
U.S. Park Police
at 400,000, en-
couraging devo-
tion to God and family; there
were placards calling for an end
to misogyny among black men,
for an end to the epidemic of ur-
ban violence, for abstinence from
drugs. Everywhere, there were
groups promoting voter regis-
tration.
Authorities reported that it
was an exceptionally well-be-
haved crowd.
Jewish reporters scoured the
vending stalls, looking for anti-
Semitic literature. There was lit-
tle in evidence.
The New York-based Amcha:
the Coalition for Jewish Con-
cerns, the group headed by Rab-
bi Avi Weiss, offered a minor note
of protest with a banner calling
the Nation of Islam the "nation
of hate."
Amcha also organized silent
protests in front of a number of
synagogues around the country
on Monday.
"There is this sense in the Jew-
ish community that if you speak
out, you're rendered vulnerable,"
said the always-outspoken Rab-
bi Weiss. "My feeling is, the more
you speak out, the more you pro-
tect Jewish interests."
The march altered the daily
routines of thousands of federal
workers, Capitol Hill staffers and

tourists. Subway platforms near
the Mall were dense with
marchers; parking lots filled up
early.
At the U.S. Holocaust Memo-
rial Museum on 14th Street, at-
tendance plummeted.
The Nation of Islam put to-
gether the program for Monday's
march, so it was not surprising
that Mr. Farrakhan was the ob-
ject of effusive praise. But in gen-
eral, the audience response to that
praise was polite indifference.
The Rev. Al Sampson, a long-
time civil rights leader in Chica-
go, "nominated" Mr. Farrakhan
as the new leader of the American
black community. The reaction of
the crowd was muted; around one
of the billboard-
sized television
screens, the ap-
plause was
stronger for the
curator of a slav-
ery museum in
Africa.
Many atten-
dees chose to
beat the traffic
and leave before
Mr. Farrakhan's
late-afternoon
appearance in
i Ai front of the Capi-
tol.
"You reporters see nothing but
Farrakhan," said Tyrell Johnson,
who came to the march with a
church group. "I see somebody
who isn't perfect, as he has said
many times, but understands
what's happening to our people
in the cities."
Mr. Farrakhan himself elec-
trified the crowd with a speech
that included most of his hall-
marks: powerful oratory, exhor-
tations for black unity and a
return to family and religious val-
ues, slashing attacks against his
enemies, excursions into nu-
merology and offbeat conspiracy
theories.
Mr. Farrakhan likened him-
self to a prophet of God.
"Today, whether you like it or
not, God brought the idea (for the
march) through me," he said.
"And He didn't bring it through
me because my heart was dark
with anti-Semitism ... If my heart
was that dark, how is the mes-
sage so clear, the response so
magnificent?"
Near the end of his two-hour
speech, Mr. Farrakhan called for
dialogue with Jewish groups.
"Maybe it's time to sit down with
Jewish organizations and talk,"
he said. "And perhaps in light of

t

FARRAKHAN page 20

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