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Tuesday, September 08, 1998 By Tony Norman
Henry and Hakim sit in the back of a chartered bus heading back to Pittsburgh after attending the Million Youth March in Harlem on Saturday.
Hakim: Giuliani is a racist. You saw how those helicopters swept down on us at the end, Henry. The rally was over, but the cops couldn't resist showing who's boss.
Henry: You're right, Hakim. Giuliani's contempt for black folks was showing, but ...
Hakim: But nothing! The minute I see a helicopter swoop down on the St. Patrick's Day march or the Gay Pride parade, I'll entertain your 'buts.' Until then, let's call a spade a spade.
Henry: Aren't you just a little disappointed in the lack of programmatic strategies voiced at the rally? Between all the baiting of Jews and moderate blacks, nothing much was said that your average racist skinhead could disagree with.
Hakim: If you can find a skinhead that agrees with the principles of black liberation, then I have no choice but to acknowledge him as my brother.
Henry: Has it come to this? Is the lack of principled leadership in our community so acute that we're willing to follow a man whose brightest idea so far is to shout "Sieg Heil" on Malcolm X Boulevard?
Hakim: I must've missed it. When did Khallid Muhammad use a Nazi salute?
Henry: Let's see. It was right after he called the Jews 'bloodsuckers,' and before he incited the crowd to take guns away from the cops if they arrested anybody. Maybe "Sieg Heil" was too elegant a profanity for what he had in mind.
Hakim: Oh, so we're mind readers now, eh?
Henry: The fruit doesn't fall too far from the tree, Hakim. Use your God-given common sense to figure it out. Name one constructive thing Khallid said at the microphone.
Hakim: The Million Youth March wasn't about Khallid Muhammad. It was about black youth coming together.
Henry: Coming together for what exactly? To stand in the sun? To hold hands and commiserate about how wicked the white man is? To buy tacky T-shirts? To listen to crazy speeches and conspiracy theories? What was accomplished here today, I'm dying to know?
Hakim: America finally saw Giuliani's police state for what it is ...
Henry: America also saw thousands of gullible black folks lapping up the ravings of a lunatic and his amen corner. I ducked every time a television camera was pointed my way because I didn't want anyone back home to see me here.
Hakim: Did you feel that way about the Million Man March, too?
Henry: Hell no! The spirit that gripped it was profound and tangible. There was peace and reconciliation in the air.
Hakim: But isn't Farrakhan as much a hatemonger as you say Khallid is? How did the MMM escape that taint?
Henry: Well, for one thing, the goofier speakers were kept at a minimum. It wasn't like the doors of the local asylum were thrown open and the inmates rushed to the stage.
Hakim: So Farrakhan surrounded himself with speakers you like -- that's the difference?
Henry: As much as I enjoyed the MMM, it couldn't touch the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King 35 years ago. The difference between today's nonsense and "I Have a Dream" should cause us all to weep in shame.
Hakim: You see what all of King's profundity got him?
Henry: What would have been better? Death at the hands of a white assassin in 1968, or character assassination by Khallid Muhammad today?
Tony Norman's email is: tnorman@post-gazette.com
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