Sun Myung Moon

===Race relations===

Moon took a strong stance against [[racism]] and [[racial discrimination]]. In 1974, he urged Unification Church members to support an African American president of the United States:  "We have had enough of white presidents. So, let's this time elect a president from the Negro race. What will you do if I say so? There's no question there. We must never forget that we are brothers and sisters in a huge human family. In any level of community, we must become like a family."<ref>[http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyungMoon75/SunMyungMoon-750323.htm Restoration Through Indemnity And America's Role] 23 March 1974</ref>

In 1981, he said that he himself was a victim of racial prejudice in the United States (concerning his prosecution on tax charges in [[United States v. Sun Myung Moon]]), saying:  "I would not be standing here today if my skin were white or my religion were [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]]. I am here today only because my skin is yellow and my religion is Unification Church. The ugliest things in this beautiful country of America are religious bigotry and racism."<ref>On the tax charges against him, in a speech at Foley Square in New York City (22 October 1981); published in a full page advertisement in ''The New York Times'' (5 November 1981), as quoted in US Court of Appeals document [[s:U.S. v. Sun Myung Moon 718 F.2d 1210 (1983)]]</ref>

Several African American organizations and individuals spoke out in defense of Moon at this time, including the [[National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus]], the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]], the [[National Conference of Black Mayors]],<ref>Raspberry, William, "Did Unpopular Moonie Get a Fair Trial?", ''[[Washington Post]]'', 19 April 1984</ref> and [[Joseph Lowery]], who was then the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.<ref name="signaturebooks.com"/>

In a later controversy over the use of the word [[Moonie (nickname)|"Moonie"]] (which was said to be offensive) by the American news media, Moon's position was supported by civil rights activists [[Ralph Abernathy]]<ref name="gorenfeld">{{cite book | last =Gorenfeld | first =John | title =Bad Moon Rising | publisher =PoliPointPress | year =2008 | page =[https://archive.org/details/badmoonrisinghow00gore/page/96 96] | isbn =978-0-9794822-3-6 | url =https://archive.org/details/badmoonrisinghow00gore/page/96 }}</ref><ref name="leigh">{{cite news | last =Leigh | first =Andrew | title =Inside Moon's Washington – The private side of public relations improving the image, looking for clout | newspaper =[[The Washington Post]] | page =B1 | date =15 October 1989 }}</ref><ref name="funnels">{{cite news | last=[[Knight-Ridder Newspapers]] | title =Unification Church funnels millions to U.S. conservatives | work =[[The Dallas Morning News]] | page =4A | publisher =The Dallas Morning News Company | date =20 December 1987 }}</ref> and [[James Bevel]].<ref name="hatch">{{cite news  | last = Hatch | first = Walter | title = Big names lend luster to group's causes – Church leader gains legitimacy among U.S. conservatives | newspaper = [[The Seattle Times]] | page = A1 | publisher = Seattle Times Company | date = 13 February 1989 }}</ref>

In 2000, Moon and [[Nation of Islam]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] got together to sponsor the [[Million Family March]],<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/16/us/families-arrive-in-washington-for-march-called-by-farrakhan.html Families Arrive in Washington For March Called by Farrakhan], ''[[New York Times]]'', 16 October 2000</ref> a rally in [[Washington, D.C.]] to celebrate family unity and racial and religious harmony as well as to address other issues, including abortion, capital punishment, health care, education, welfare, [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] reform, substance abuse prevention, and overhaul of the [[World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/10/16/million.family.march.02/index.html Million Family March reaches out to all] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528195304/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/10/16/million.family.march.02/index.html |date=28 May 2008 }}</ref> In his keynote speech, Farrakhan called for racial harmony.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |  title =Nation of Islam – who are they? | work =[[BBC]] | date =21 July 2001 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1466283.stm | access-date=10 November 2009 }}</ref>