No matter what was going to be said by the leaders here today, the people who have gathered for this Million Man March have come from all over America with some ideas of their own. On Minister Farrakhan, many said, as far as they were concerned, the march was bigger than any one person. It's bigger than Louis Farrakhan. But few echoed the kinds of criticism of Minister Farrakhan's alleged anti-semitism and racial hate mongering that caused some black leaders not to endorse the march and to stay at home. And I'm particularly disturbed that so many of our black leaders, so-called leaders, told people to stay away.
Men are here.
People are praying. People are happy. I've probably stepped on a hundred black men's feet today and, and not a single incident. My son came up from college, and for both of us, who couldn't be in the march in 1963, this is our opportunity to come forward and give thanks for being alive in America in 1995, and also our time to, to have a sense of responsibility for the next generation. All came with ideas and hopes about this day, their words and the words of the speakers almost interchangeable at times.