DE Campus Life Editor

Rev. James Luther Bevel speaks of a deep-rooted belief that race is not only unimportant but non-existent.

Bevel, a key civil rights strategist of the 1960s, said that once people realize they have been tricked into believing otherwise, real progress can begin.

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They have you arguing about something that is not law, he said, illustrating his point on the huge green chalkboard in the Student Center Illinois Room Tuesday afternoon. God said, Let us make man,’ and that’s true. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,’ that’s truth.

You’re arguing against something that does not exist while the real problems aren’t being addressed.

Bevel was invited to campus by the SIUC student chapter of the Nation of Islam as part of the group’s week of events in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Bevel first spoke at a press conference before his 7 p.m. speech in the Kaskaskia and Missouri Rooms of the Student Center.

Although Bevel has been involved in a number of social causes over the last three decades, he is best known for co-founding the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s and for his involvement in the 1995 Million Man March.

He said his theories denouncing race helped inspire his idea of atonement, an idea that in turn ignited the beginnings of the Million Man March.

That rally, thought by many to be mostly organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan and Rev. Benjamin Chavis Muhammad, brought African-American men from various socioeconomic levels and backgrounds to Washington to participate in a show of unity and atonement.

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African-American men were to atone for their collective sins and to renew their bond with God and the African-American community.

In one of his speeches, Farrakhan called Bevel an angel sent to me in the form of a human being. Farrakhan said Bevel was the person who first mentioned the idea of atonement to him, and Bevel also served as the International Coordinator of the World’s Day of Atonement on the first anniversary of the Million Man March.

Bevel said he was pleased with how his idea of atonement has encouraged others to stop thinking solely about race issues in the years since the march, as more people have committed themselves to building themselves and their communities.

It’s tremendous in terms of what has happened, he said. All kinds of positive things have happened all over the country and the world. I’d realized that we [African-Americans] have to stop pointing our fingers at white people and start helping ourselves then we can help other people.

This [idea of atonement] is not just about us, it’s about everybody.