WASHINGTON -- Thirty-two years after Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a nation graced by racial equality, black leader Louis Farrakhan has mobilized a march that critics say could further strain frayed U.S. race relations.


Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has often stirred emotions with harsh criticism of Jews and Christians, is urging 1 million black men to converge on the nation's capital next Monday to proclaim self-reliance in an event that would dwarf King's famed civil rights march of 1963.


Then, 250,000 blacks and whites marched for "jobs and equality" on a day made historic by King's "I have a dream" speech about his vision of a racially harmonious nation.


According to census figures, Farrakhan has set himself quite a goal. One million black men would represent about one out of every 11 black American males over the age of 16.


And only men have been invited to participate in the "Million Man March" despite the risk of offending black women, including those who are members of Farrakhan's Chicago-based Moslem religious movement. Farrakhan has said without elaboration that he did not want women at the event "because of the potential danger of the situation."


Just how many will attend the event at the National Mall is anybody's guess, but Washington is preparing for traffic-jamming crowds.


Lionel Graham, handling march logistics in New York, said 250,000 men would come from his area alone.


The biggest turnout for a Washington demonstration was 600,000 people for a 1969 Vietnam War protest, according to Park Service estimates.


Farrakhan says his predicted gathering of black men -- who as a group suffer high joblessness, lack of education and disproportionate rates of imprisonment -- differs from other rallies since it seeks no favors of white society.


"Listen, we're not coming to beg Washington," he told a television interviewer. "Our days of begging white folk to do for us what we could do for ourselves are over."


Instead, the 62-year-old minister says he wants men to gather before Congress for "a day of atonement," to "stand up and take the responsibility of freedom, the responsibility of their wives and their children and the responsibility of building our communities."


But Farrakhan also says he picked Washington as the site to attack "oppressive" national leadership. He says approximately 200 black groups back his march.


Since King was murdered in 1968 after helping push landmark civil rights bills into law, Farrakhan has emerged as one of the nation's most flamboyant -- and controversial -- black leaders.


While his message of bold self-reliance stirs excitement and wins praise among many blacks, Farrakhan's attacks over the years on "white devils," Jews, Catholics, women and homosexuals have sparked bitter resentment and made him among the most vilified public figures in white America.


A recent Washington Post-ABC poll found that black people who are aware of the march draw a clear distinction between the demonstration and its originator.


The poll found that while 84 percent of those blacks surveyed thought the idea of the march was good, nearly half had a negative impression of Farrakhan.


And in recent statements, Farrakhan and other organizers have described the march as a "broad-based event" not designed to proselytize for the Nation of Islam or endorse Farrakhan's beliefs.


But Farrakhan's top aide Leonard Muhammad appeared to contradict that in a Washington news conference Thursday, saying that the march will serve as a barometer of support for Farrakhan and confirm his position as "a leader of black people."


"The people that are coming to Washington, D.C., whether they are in a position to say it or not, are coming because they support the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, and that's a fact," he said.


"I assure you, if they didn't support Louis Farrakhan, they wouldn't be in Washington." (Reuters, WP, AP)