A Fly in the Anti-War Ointment

Organizers of the recent anti-war march in Washington, D.C. pulled off a successful event for which they should congratulate themselves.  They far exceeded their goal of 100,000 marchers and the speakers, left, and far-left, all sang from the “get-the-troops-out-now” hymnal in tune and (mostly) on time.  But one thing was missing: significant numbers of minorities, particularly Black people.

While only time will tell if the recent and massive anti-war march has any impact on public opinion or public policy toward Iraq–after all, mass protests are supposed to change the status quo–what can clearly be seen in its aftermath is that the anti-war movement has a problem that must be rectified if it is to become the unifying force that it can: too few of the marchers were people of color.  African Americans were particularly scarce at a gathering to protest a war in which 17 percent of those killed are Black.  And, the march was held in a majority African American city.   The lack of a substantial minority presence in the march is a serious void that weakens the anti-war movement by exposing it as a movement that does not take advantage of all its possible resources.  It also feeds the cynicism that some feel about the movement, particularly in the Black community, where these kinds of events are largely seen as a “White thing.”

The following is only a slight exaggeration: There were more Black people speaking into microphones than listening to what was said.  That represents a comprehensive failure for march organizers and African American activists who are sympathetic to the cause.  The White liberal anti-war march organizers did an abysmal job of coordinating with Black organizations to ensure that their like-minded members knew about the march and were encouraged to participate.  There is no evidence that an aggressive campaign was undertaken to organize Black churches, social groups, fraternities, sororities, or the myriad other organizations to which Black people who oppose the war may belong.  If such an effort did exist, then it was a miserable failure.  This is particularly egregious considering that the march was held on the same weekend as the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative conference–a meeting with a 35-year history of African Americans coming to Washington, D.C. to discuss and strategize on the most important issues of the day.  Also troublesome is the fact that Howard University, the most significant historically Black university in the country, is located less than three miles from the march location.

The Black community and its activist/organizing class also bears great responsibility for their weak turnout.  Virtually every poll taken since President Bush even whispered about going into Iraq has shown Black people more opposed to the war than any other racial group in the country.  Black people represent a large, untapped reservoir of support than can energize the anti-war movement in new ways.  Even if Black activists felt locked out of the organizing process, and I have no reason to believe that they do or were, they should have done a better job in taking their own initiative to organize some of the more than one million African Americans who live in Washington, D.C. and it’s suburbs.  Very few radio stations, newspapers, or other information outlets that target African Americans ran announcements or editorials to encourage Blacks to attend the march.  Given the role of the Internet in spreading information about parties, conspiracy theories, and urban legends, the lack of email circulating in the Black community about the march and its potential to help save Black lives can only charitably be seen as a missed opportunity.  The most strident view is that the poor Black turnout exposed the Black activist community as paper tigers, unable to turn out large numbers of Black people for a cause for which African Americans should be willing to hit the streets.

March organizers should congratulate themselves for the outstanding turnout they were able to generate.  Also, the proceedings went off without violence or the kinds of problems that can mar such a large gathering.  But organizers better find a way to involve more people of color to participate in future events if they really want to spark change and be seen as something other than liberal elitists.  If they don’t, then they run the risk of Kanye West going on television and saying: “White liberals don’t care about Black people.”

© Michael K. Fauntroy, September 25, 2005