Crossfire

Youths' voices overshadowed by politics

It seems that lately many public events and statements are politically motivated and one-sided agendas often defeat ideological arguments - nothing exemplifies this trend more than last week's Million Youth March, which took place in Harlem, N.Y.C. The hateful rhetoric between the city's government and the organizers of the march succeeded in almost annihilating the rally's stated goal of reaching out to urban youth by reducing their voices to little more than background noise.

The rally, which organizers began planning months ago, was initially denied a time and place by the city. At that time, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani claimed that the rally was actually a hate march, particularly referring to the infamous anti-semitic, anti-white words of the march's leader, Khallid Abdul Muhammad. Combining the permit denial with a denunciation of Muhammed, Giuliani only succeeded in aggravating already-existing tensions. Similarly, Muhammed failed to alert Harlem's community members of his plans, negating a united front among the black community. These two men, both having prominent power and influence, have forgotten whom they should be representing - the people of New York City and more particularly, the youth of Harlem.

But a week before the rally's scheduled date of Sept. 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the organizers had a right to hold the rally. Terms of the gathering, however, were to be decided by the city, which assigned the event a four-hour time period and a six-block radius. It seemed as though the Million Youth March would finally be allowed its due time and place.

With 6,000 attendees, the rally was not as large as expected, but still provided a platform for black unity among urban youth. The march began peacefully, but minutes before 4 p.m. (the rally's court-ordered ending time) violence erupted between the attendees and a rather large deployment of police. Whether Muhammed's speech, which he intentionally began moments before the ending time, or the police presence sparked the melee is still up for debate. But as the city and the event organizers continue to point fingers at each other, once again, the underlying message the event was supposed to send has been muddled in fierce politicking.

The Million Youth March could have been a day dedicated to change and unity. Instead, both political forces behind the march - the city's administration and Muhammed - used a veil of helping youth to benefit their own political agendas. A menacing police force stormed a stage threatening an until-then peaceful gathering and the key note speaker, Muhammed, encouraged the crowd to fight the police. Both sides of the fence are at fault here.

Race relations will never improve if situations like this continue to occur. A new generation was taken advantage of by politically motivated individuals and was never given the opportunity to unite and change the status quo. It is a shame that the leaders of today are setting such abhorrent examples for the leaders of tomorrow. In the future, both sides of such arguments must make sure that they represent who they claim to, not their own selfish political agendas.

09-10-98