A Fool Responds to Farrakhan

According to Minister Louis Farrakhan, black men like me who refused to attend the Million Man March are "self-righteous fools." Farrakhan probably feels this is something else we need to appear before him to "atone," like the rest of the black men's shortcomings, for which the Million Man March was supposed to be a public apology. Well, this is one black man who doesn't have anything to apologize or atone for, at least nothing so big that it would merit a trip to D.C.

So what's up with this atonement thing, anyway? Farrakhan characteristically spent a disproportionate amount of time in his keynote speech defining his terms. And, just as characteristically, his explanation was bizarre and almost comical, somehow relating "atone" with the Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaten, and the suffix '-ment" with "men." In actuality, Minister Farrakhan's derivation of the word "atonement" was much more complex, but it would take many paragraphs to recount it, and in any event no number of words could have brought order to such nonsense. Suffice it to say that by atonement Farrakhan intended that black men admit their sins and take an oath to God that they would not repeat these transgressions.

We already have enough of "black men do this" and "black men do that" in this society without another big mouth telling everybody how messed up he thinks we are. Farakhan calls me to apologize merely because I happen to be a black man. To suggest that a person is in some way deficient merely because of race or gender is the very essence of prejudice, and we certainly don't need someone reinforcing negative images of black men. Sure, there are a lot of us in jail or a premature grave, but there are plenty more of us who are doing just fine. Some of us have certainly abandoned our responsibilities to our children and spouses, but many of us haven't. I won't apologize for these social problems just because I am a black man. This realization does not make me a "self-righteous fool." If the Million Man March had been a celebration of black achievement and success with an eye toward building on the positives, then maybe I would have felt some inclination to participate. But I'm not going to "atone" for something I haven't done.

It is not entirely surprising that Farrakhan would suggest atonement by black men. The idea of shared guilt is a prominent one in religious dogma and racism, areas to which Minister Farrakhan has dedicated his life. Racism assigns the same negative traits to all persons within a group, much like the concept of original sin. The religious concept of atonement is imbedded in the notion of a "chosen people," the philosophical foundation of virtually all racist theory. I'm no more ready to accept this collective guilt trip from Farrakhan than I am from the Aryan Brotherhood.

The Million Man March was a qualified success. It would have been an unqualified success had IT not been under the divisive leadership of Louis Farrakhan. Ironically, however, without Farrakahn there obviously would have been no march. One is left admitting the fact that Farrakhan has assumed, primarily by default, a position of leadership, and hoping, somewhat despairingly, that he will soon start acting like a leader instead of some weird messiah. He might start by paying some attention to that Bible he so likes to quote, particularly Matthew 5:22 - "Whoever says 'You fool' shall be liable to the hell of fire."

P.S. Anyone wishing to read more on the subject of fools should check out Stanley Crouch's excellent essay "Nationalism of Fools." It can be found in his book Notes of a Hanging Judge.