More than a month after the Million Man March filled the capital's streets and the nation's consciousness, official Washington has quietly backed away from proposals that would have given political leaders new roles in promoting racial reconciliation.
After declaring "we owe the country a follow-up," President Clinton has so far showed no sign that he intends to embark on new initiatives to address issues raised by the march. He has cooled to proposals for a White House conference or independent commission on race, and aides suggest that he plans to basically continue his earlier approach of occasional speeches on racial questions.In Congress, where various members had called for a new approach after the Oct. 16 gathering on the Washington mall, talk on the issue has been almost entirely drowned by rising commotion over the 1996 budget. "There was a lot of interest; I don't know if it's still there," said Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, one of six members who called for a new study commission on race issues.
The march was far more about individual behavior than government action, as Clinton himself said at the time. But absent high-level emphasis on the questions raised by the gathering, public discussion could default to the left and right fringes of the political spectrum.
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, who has urged blacks to separate themselves from white-dominated institutions, has seen his popularity rise since the march, at least in the black community. For example, he was invited to a top-level meeting of black leadership in Baltimore.
"The message we all took from the march was: We need to be trying something different," said one liberal House Democrat, acknowledging his frustration. Yet, while politicians ought to be at least trying to provoke discussion, in this member's view, "it's been pretty much business as usual around here."
In a news conference three days after the march, Clinton said the White House was "turning our attention very carefully to what should be done to follow up. I think we owe the country a follow-up, and I'm going to do my best to do it right."
White House sources indicated at the time that Clinton was giving serious thought to both a blue-ribbon race relations commission, and a White House conference on urban problems, a notion pressed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. But since then Clinton has signaled his displeasure with the commission idea, which might end up doing no more than postponing action.
"He doesn't want a commission to be just a way to put off action," said one senior aide. "It shouldn't be just an excuse to sit back and push everything over to some group to decide."
Clinton aides and advisers said several of the most prominent proposals for greater official involvement had serious difficulties.
It would be tricky to choose members of a commission who would have credibility. And it would be difficult to avoid antagonizing some people who thought they deserved a place on such a panel.
An even larger problem, he said, would lie in the expectations that such a commission could produce a worthwhile remedy.