When I embarked to New York City yesterday to attend a rally for the people of Darfur, I planned to see a microcosm of the Big Apple condensed into a ten block by four block area of Central Park. I expected to see people of all races, religions, colors and creeds united for a cause that few would question.

Save Darfur Rally in Central Park, 9/17/06 (Click to enlarge) [Ruth Stein]

But after a lengthy bus ride from Philly, with some 35 other Penn students on a Hillel sponsored coach, I didn't see the American melting pot I expected to see.

First, I saw a sign that said "Never Again, Again"— a clear reference to the Holocaust, and the UN's creation of the Genocide Convention of 1948. But, it has happened again.

My problem was the sea of white faces who were rallying in Central Park against the injustices of the Sudan. In every corner of the field I counted no more than 20 minorities among the tens of thousands of people who were packed into the park.

I also observed (not scientifically, I must admit) that the majority of the crowd were Jews.

What does this say about our society?

I approached each black person I saw throughout the+A33 day. The scary thing was that I saw but one person the entire day who was African-American, rather than an immigrant from Africa.

This event was a disgrace. It was not a unified America. It was a majority of Jews and some Catholics from their faith-based organizations, and a contingent of hippie liberals from Amnesty International. There were no Muslims there.

Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid, 9/17/06 (Click to enlarge) [Ruth Stein]

When I asked people like Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), headlining singer and Amnesty International supporter Suzanne Vega and former Canadian Attorney General and current House of Commons member Irwin Cotler about the demographics of the crowd, they each acknowledged that my observations were correct, but they could not explain to me why this rally turned out this way.

Cotler, the only Canadian speaker of the day is himself a Jew and the founder of the Save Darfur Parliamentary Coalition.

When the Save Darfur coalition announced Imam Talib Abdur-Rashid as a guest speaker, I initially rejoiced. However, the Imam turned a crowd that was previously cheering into a solemn group of individuals with no emotion. This is because he accused those trying to save Darfur of being "wolves dressing up as sheep" trying to convert the Muslims of Sudan to Christianity.

Not even a performance by OAR to end the event could help the crowd overcome such harsh and dismal words.

Save Darfur Rally in Central Park, 9/17/06 (Click to enlarge) [Ruth Stein]

This event was an utter failure. Chris Smith of NJ was probably the only Republican in the place, and there were no more than fifteen American blacks, Latinos and Asians in sight. The only Indian I met was a cop assigned to the outer gates. What will it take for people to actually put the phrase "never again" into practice?

American Jews stepped up to the plate this summer to help their brothers and sisters in Israel. When will African-Americans do the same for their brothers and sisters in Darfur?