Freeze March

Rallying in New York

Nuclear-freeze advocates are calling it the "Big One." This Saturday an estimated 500,000 people from across the country are expected to converge in New York City for the biggest rally ever held in the U.S. against nuclear arms. The object of the rally: "a freeze and reduction of all nuclear weapons and the transfer of funds from military budgets to human needs." The giant gathering, timed to coincide with the opening of the United Nations second special session on disarmament, which runs from June 7 to July 9, is the centerpiece of a week-long series of concerts, demonstrations, prayer meetings and teach-ins. The sponsors include myriad peace and disarmament organizations, church groups and community activists.

Planning for the rally has been under way for weeks from Bangor, Me., to San Diego. After the Boston city council approved a resolution urging residents to go to New York, 3,500 reserved space aboard a fleet of 50 buses and a twelve-car Amtrak special dubbed the Peace Train. Planners expect Ohio alone to be represented by more than 10,000 participants from dozens of communities; West Virginia and Minnesota will send 500 demonstrators apiece. Some local groups helped raise money to defray costs for those who wanted to take part. At an interdenominational church service in Birmingham a week ago, a special collection netted $385 for that city's 15 travelers. Sisters at the Annunciation Convent in tiny Kiln, Miss., pooled their resources so that one of their members could attend the demonstration.

Some cities planned rallies at home. One of the first was in Pasadena, Calif, where organizers of "Peace Sunday" expected up to 80,000 freeze fans to jam the Rose Bowl last weekend to hear Jane Fonda, Ed Asner, Muhammad Ali and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Other demonstrations were planned for Baton Rouge, La., and Chicago.

In New York, anticipating what could be the largest political demonstration in the city's history, officials assigned 5,000 police officers and 1,000 other municipal workers to handle the crowds. Extra buses and subway cars were to be put in service to ease traffic congestion. Churches and synagogues volunteered their pews and aisles as resting places for weary out-of-towners. The marchers planned to assemble near U.N. headquarters before walking more than two miles to Central Park's Great Lawn. There they were scheduled to hear speeches by Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King and New York Congressman Ted Weiss, and music by Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and others.

Unlike the antiwar protesters of a decade ago, most of whom were young, white and middleclass, the freeze movement has attracted followers from across the socioeconomic spectrum. So far, this has been a source of vitality and political strength. But with upwards of 100 organizations either participating in this weekend's rally or lending their support, divisions have inevitably begun to appear. Notably absent on June 12, for instance, will be representatives of the Washington, D.C.-based Ground Zero, which has done much to stir national concern over nuclear arms. Explains Founder Roger Molander: "We are trying to maintain our character as an educational organization, not a political organization or advocacy group."

Some members of the Boston-based Physicians for Social Responsibility, which has been at the forefront of the movement, were concerned that the grass-roots call for nuclear disarmament might be co-opted by the radical left. Most nervous was the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which at week's end had not granted visas to 401 foreign participants who it said were connected with Communist organizations, despite a suit filed in federal court by U.S. civil rights groups demanding entry for the visitors. Meanwhile, White House officials were concerned that the rally could only hurt Administration attempts to portray the President as a peacemaker.

While the June 12 rally will provide the movement an extraordinary showcase, it also poses serious risks. If the demonstrators seem too radical, or even a little kooky, the antinuclear coalition could lose some of its broad-based support. Moreover, now that President Reagan has announced that a new round of strategic-arms talks with the Soviets will begin June 29, the movement could lose its momentum.

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