Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 17, 1995 TAG: 9510170097
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Powell said he was tempted to join Monday's Million Man March, but he feared his stature would add credibility to Farrakhan, chief sponsor of the event.
While insisting that he deplores Farrakhan, Powell said it is possible to separate the messenger from the broader message of the march itself, that black men should be more responsible for their own lives.
In an interview on ``CBS This Morning,'' Powell for the first time spoke at length about the march, the O.J. Simpson verdict and about race relations in the United States. In past weeks, Powell, who is considering a campaign for the presidency, has been subjected to increasing criticism for failing to speak out on Farrakhan.
A week ago, Farrakhan said he had invited Powell to speak at the rally and he was ``expecting, hopefully, Colin Powell to join the march.'' Powell at the time said only that he would not attend because he was already scheduled to make a promotional appearance for his autobiography.
But Monday he said he would not have attended even if he had been free.
``I was tempted,'' Powell said, ``I considered it briefly, because the opportunity to give the message I like to give, to that many Americans in one place, was tempting.
``But I was concerned that my presence on the stage with Farrakhan might give him a level of credibility - more of a level of credibility than I would have liked to have seen.''
He said blacks suffer the most from racism and therefore should reject all forms of racism or anti-Semitism. He likened Farrakhan's racism toward whites to the anti-black hatred espoused by Fuhrman, revealed in tape recordings played in the Simpson trial.
``I condemn it, I deplore it, it's a disgrace,'' Powell said. He said he wished ``somebody else had thought of the idea of the Million Man March rather than Farrakhan,'' because he welcomed its core themes.
``It has sparked something in the African-American community that says, `We've got to get ourselves together, especially men. We have to be better fathers; we have to be better providers; we have to reconcile with each other; we have to begin solving our own problem,''' Powell said.
by CNB