ABSTRACT
The real evil in America is the idea that undergirds the setup of the western world, and that idea is called white supremacy. So declared Louis Farrakhan on 16 October in his two-hour keynote speech before hundreds of thousands of black men from across America who had gathered in front of the Capitol for the "Million Man March". The demonstration was the culmination of a year-long mobilization, led by Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, and former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) secretary Benjamin Chavis, and endorsed by more than 200 national black organizations. By recruiting Benjamin Chavis as "national chairperson" for the Million Man March, Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam were able to reach new constituencies where previously they held only marginal influence. The racial essentialism of the "Million Man March" obscures the growing reality of class polarization among blacks.
