In

e

III) etroit Mayor Dennis Archer was
in a great mood. He should have
been. It was the "day after." In
Detroit that can only mean one
thing: Oct. 31, the day after Dev-
il's Night.
This year, largely through his
efforts and those of tens of thou-
sands of volunteers, the fire in
the devil and the arsons in this
beleaguered city were virtually extinguished.
Mayor Archer attributed at least part of the suc-
cess to the accountability factor shared by the De-
troit men who earlier participated in the Million
Man March in Washington, D.C.
It was the march, organized by the anti-Semit-
ic and controversial leader of the Nation of Islam,
Louis Farrakhan, that started a local fire smol-
dering among the Detroit metro area Jewish com-
munity.
Mayor Archer, who has long enjoyed a close re-
lationship with the Jewish community, was one of
two guest mayors from major cities who not only
sat on the Washington, D.C., podium with Mr. Far-
rakhan, but also delivered a speech. Baltimore May-
or Kurt Schmoke also took part in the daylong
event.
When Mayor Archer first learned about the
march, he didn't pay much attention. At the time,
he didn't know how serious Mr. Farrakhan was
about holding the event, and the mayor said he
didn't have an appreciation for the agenda.
"As the issue began to develop, it became clear
to me what the agenda was, and then I became
comfortable with it," said Mayor Archer, who is the
kind of man who hangs up a guest's coat instead
of delegating the courtesy to a staff member.
Two weeks prior to the Million Man March, Mr.
Farrakhan sat in the same office where the may-
or met with the editor and a reporter from The Jew-
ish News. The mayor wanted to speak with Mr.
Farrakhan to make certain that the agenda in
Washington would not include any messages of
anti-Semitism or hate, and that the focus was

