I was working in Washington, D.C. when the Million Man March took place. The context of the march is important. It was clear that something had been lost since the peak of the Civil Rights movement. Progress had been made on several economic fronts (e.g., lower poverty rates, higher labor force participation rates, lower unemployment rates, etc.), but black family structures had fractured and disorder was an issue in many black neighborhoods. The percentage of black children born to unwed mothers, for example, had gone from 37.5% in 1970 to 66.5% by 1990. Black homicide rates were seven times those of whites. The crack epidemic and the violent crime that came with it had roiled black communities and were additional signs that something had gone wrong.
I left work and went to the gathering for an hour or so. Black men were drawn to it for lots of reasons. Talk of “atonement” and accepting responsibility for improving the state of Black America motivated many of them. The vibe was serene. There was a sense of goodwill among all the people I saw.
As much as I appreciated the vibe that day, I left the march wondering if there would be any follow up, if anything tangible would actually come out of it. Progress has been made since October 1995, but it’s hard to attribute any of it to the Million Man March. It seems to have been a “moment” instead of the beginning of a “movement.”
I was working in Washington, D.C. when the Million Man March took place. The context of the march is important. It was clear that something had been lost since the peak of the Civil Rights movement. Progress had been made on several economic fronts (e.g., lower poverty rates, higher labor force participation rates, lower unemployment rates, etc.), but black family structures had fractured and disorder was an issue in many black neighborhoods. The percentage of black children born to unwed mothers, for example, had gone from 37.5% in 1970 to 66.5% by 1990. Black homicide rates were seven times those of whites. The crack epidemic and the violent crime that came with it had roiled black communities and were additional signs that something had gone wrong.
I left work and went to the gathering for an hour or so. Black men were drawn to it for lots of reasons. Talk of “atonement” and accepting responsibility for improving the state of Black America motivated many of them. The vibe was serene. There was a sense of goodwill among all the people I saw.
As much as I appreciated the vibe that day, I left the march wondering if there would be any follow up, if anything tangible would actually come out of it. Progress has been made since October 1995, but it’s hard to attribute any of it to the Million Man March. It seems to have been a “moment” instead of the beginning of a “movement.”