[Socialism Today, No 3, November 1995, p. 7]
In one of the biggest demonstrations in the US since Martin Luther King’s March on Washington in 1963, legions of black men converged on Capitol Hill on 16 October.
The ‘Million Man March’, called by the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and Ben Chavis, the ex-director of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), took place at a time when the gaping divide between black and white societies in the USA has been made clear to the world by the OJ Simpson trial.
For the first time since the 1992 LA riots, the international spotlight highlighted the racism rife in the US justice system but also the extreme racial divisions in US society. Over one third of black families in the US live below the official poverty level. Black unemployment, at 12%, stands at nearly twice the national rate. And while blacks form just over 12% of US society they make up nearly half of the prison population. It is clear, then, why the march captured the imagination of thousands of African Americans.
Yet, while the march leaders have spearheaded a black voter registration campaign and highlighted some of the inequalities and injustices in US society, and also called for a ‘Day of Absence’ strike of black America to coincide with the march, they failed to launch any significant challenge to the system which generates these inequalities. In fact Chavis and Farrakhan insisted that the main demands of the march were directed not on the US government but at the black community itself. They called for black ‘self-empowerment’ and ‘atonement.
They pointed out, for example, that the most likely cause of death for black males in the US is murder or drug overdose. Yet while Farrakhan
“The march showed the potential for a movement of revolt existing in America’s black community – but also the vacuum of leadership”.
calls on black Americans to ‘atone’, the large-scale corporations which profit from the manufacture of the guns that kill blacks are left unchallenged. Those ‘atoning’ are not encouraged to question who really controls the drugs being pumped into their community.
Overall, the Million Man March gave a glimpse of the potential for a large-scale movement of revolt which exists in America’s black community – but also the vacuum of leadership.
Amongst wide sections of African American youth Farrakhan is seen as one of their most effective leaders. He stands in contrast to the growing number of black elected officials (there are over 40 African American members of Congress and numerous black mayors) who, despite their elevation, have been unable to improve the conditions of the vast majority of black Americans. This includes Jesse Jackson, who gained enormous support from the black community in his 1984 and 1988 presidential bids, but who now has lost much of his appeal to young African Americans. Colin Powell, the former US military chief of staff, is a potential African American presidential candidate, but one who currently has more support from whites than blacks.
Farrakhan, in contrast, is seen as uncompromising. The fact that he is denounced by the white establishment in the US adds to his attraction. It is also symptomatic of Farrakhan’s present standing in the black community that Chavis, sacked last year from the NAACP for trying to redirect that organisation towards the concerns of younger African Americans, linked up with Farrakhan to organise the Washington march.
Yet, to effectively transform the conditions of blacks in the US a united movement is necessary: with the full participation of women – who were told by Farrakhan to ‘stay home’ on 16 October and teach values to their children – and the organised labour movement. To effectively deal with the poverty conditions in the black community needs a struggle for full employment, universal health care and decent housing for all – challenging the very foundations of US capitalism. Farrakhan, a strong supporter of black capitalism, can march to Washington, but he will not build such a movement.
Andrea Enisuoh
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