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40 Black Cultists Died at WacoBy Clarence Waldron With the recent tragedy near Waco, Texas, in which members of a cult died in what authorities are calling a massive suicide, Blacks are taking a new look at cults and their danger. More than 80 men, women and children died in the fire which was the final chapter in a 51-day standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidian cult, near Waco, led by David Koresh. There were an estimated 40 Blacks out of 120 members in the Branch Davidian cult, one cult member told Jet, the Blacks were from England, the Caribbean and the U.S. Among the Blacks killed in the fire as Wayne Martin, a 42-year-old lawyer who graduated from Harvard Law School and held a master's degree in library science from Columbia University in New York. He and four of his seven children died in the blaze. His wife and three other children survived only because they left the compound during the early days of the standoff. It is not known how many of the Blacks were still active members and present at the time the cult compound burned. The seven-week standoff started when federal agents visited the cult's compound to investigate illegal weapons charges. Blacks across the country were shocked to learn there were so many Black members in the cult. Jet visited the city of Waco, situated about 100 miles south of Dallas/Ft. Worth and talked with Black residents about the tragedy. Black residents told Jet they were surprised so many Blacks would willingly follow a White man who preached that "these are the last days." Koresh was a gun-toting, spell binding, self-proclaimed Bible wizard with a passion for women. He was married but had many other wives and children in the cult. Former cultists said he sexually abused young girls, and there were allegations of child abuse -- none of which have been substantiated, officials say. Koresh seized power over the sect, known as the Branch Davidian, after a 1987 gun battle with its former leader. Koresh was charismatic and preached he was Jesus Christ. He ruled the sect with an apparent mix of fear, intimidation, spiritual wizardry, violence and inspiration, according to news reports. And many Blacks are looking at the Branch Davidian cult, asking themselves "What kind of person would follow someone like Koresh?" Noted psychiatrist Dr. Alvin Poussaint told Jet in a telephone interview: "I think it's usually a person who is very religious, or religious-oriented and also very lonely. I think somewhat dependent and are looking for a family, a group in which they can really feel they belong and they're somebody." Poussaint continued, "They're prone to follow charismatic authority without question, they become true believers and show an absence of independent thought. It becomes blind faith and that's what makes it so difficult to reach them, especially when they've been isolated and cut off from the world." Black religious leaders are urging Blacks to look at what happened to Texas and hold on to their more traditional religious beliefs. Rev. Eric Hooker, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Waco told Jet, "It's a clear lesson for all of us, that the Scriptures say 'thou shalt not have any other gods before me.' Some may be misled into serving what they see as little gods, but there is only one true God." Rev. Hooker explained, "Blacks should take a look at cults and stay away from them because they lead to eternal death." Hooker noted that Blacks who get caught up in the cult are "misguided." "They don't go to Sunday School ...They are searching for something to hold on to, they're easy prey for these false prophets," he explained. Waco resident Anthony Billings, 29, told Jet, "Just to know there were so many of us out there was shocking to me. It may be time for us to take a reality check to see where we are in that area. Are we really reaching our people?" He noted that a Harvard lawyer in the cult showed that "every extreme that's possible in our culture was out there." Atty. Lawrence Johnson, a Waco City Council member, recalled his friendship with Black attorney Wayne Martin, who was killed in the blaze. "Wayne Martin was a friend of mine and Wayne was a Black man and he thought a lot like a Black man too. "Wayne was a very religious man and he was very devoted to his religion. He had died the way he had hoped too. He believed in his religion to a point where he put it first. He viewed his religion as being attacked and here he was fulfilling the prophecy, the Scripture." Waco attorney George Long noted that Blacks should band together and support each other so they won't have a need to fall victim to cults. "The main thing we can learn from this is that we as Blacks need to network more. The Black businesses, the Black churches, the Black officials, we need to become a closer bond. "We need to start supporting one another. We need to study the Jews and become more of a close knit group like they are and give each other more support." Waco resident Jesse Kelly, who is a constable in the 7th precinct, noted, "I don't think anyone should sit down and listen to somebody saying that they're Jesus Christ. Go to church on Sunday and stay away from the cults." Coque Gibson, president of the Waco Independent School District, compared people's attraction to the cults to today's teens' attraction to gangs: "There seemed to be a need each one of those individuals had. There was a loss or someone that they need to reach out for--someone above themselves--to feel needed and to belong; to be apart of something. I think that has a lot to do with the gangs today too. Our youth seem to cater to gangs because there is something that they long for and no one knows about it. Some people just have the nature of being able to attract others, through talking with them, enticing them." She advises Blacks to develop stronger family relationships to help develop proper values and boost self-confidence in children, so they won't grow up and be attracted to cults or gangs. "Nowadays the family has kind of deteriorated. We don't spend that much time together. Our kids are running rampant about the community. We can't find enough minority teachers to be role models. We have few leaders who are minorities in the community. These people don't have role models and are the ones they pick as gang members." Waco residents told Jet while they regret that so many lives were lost in the cult's standoff with federal agents, they also feel that it would have been handled a lot differently had the cult been all Black. Lester Gibson, McLennan County Commissioner in Waco, told Jet, "There is a general feeling that had the compound been all African-American they would have burned it down the first day. It wouldn't have been a situation where they waited this long." Gibson also stressed that residents feel the media and federal agents should spend as much time scrutinizing the Ku Klux Klan as they did investigating the Branch Davidians. "You have the Ku Klux Klan in this area. I'm more cautious about Michael Lowe, the Texas Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, than I am about David Koresh. They have not scrutinized Michael Lowe like they have this particular religious group that Koresh led. This gentleman here comes out and says he doesn't like Black folks and minorities. "Should the priorities have been the Branch Davidians or should it have been the Ku Klux Klan, which is still here active now?" John Hubert, owner of the Hubert auto garage, noted how police handled the Black Philadelphia radical group MOVE in a similar standoff in 1985. "What about those people in Philadelphia who were all Black that they killed up there? No one hardly talked about that. If you kill a bunch of Blacks, it's fine," he continued. LaJuan Dobbins, a hairdresser at Alta's House of Beauty, agreed, "The way that they have dealt with Blacks in the past in the same situation is they shoot first and ask questions later. They took their time (with Koresh). They were real careful and they didn't do the same thing for the Blacks in Philadelphia. They just went in and blew up everybody." Jessie Mays, a barber at the Jockey Club, said he was shocked that a man would allow Koresh to sleep with his wife. "I was surprised that a man would give his money and his wife away. Black folks don't go for it." Waco resident Marietta Sims noted, "They (cult leaders) prey on the weak because they know everybody's got a weak spot... He was nobody from the get-go to follow like that," she stressed. As far as Koresh having multiple wives, she declared, "I can't believe any woman would put up with all of that." Richard Landrum, pastor of the Cornerstone Church of God in Christ in Waco, believes that if Blacks "would go to the local church and not follow the man" tragedies like the Branch Davidians would not happen. "A lot of Black people follow a White man in religion. They think he's superior to a Black minister." Bennie Williams, owner of Charlie's Package Store, added, "They had to be pretty weak. They should have known he wasn't with the Lord if he could covet so many women. It's supposed to be in the Bible that thou shalt not covet another man's wife. So there's something wrong there. I just don't know how they fell for that." Robert E. Starr, vice president of the Ft. Worth, Texas, NAACP branch, said, "I don't know if it's possible for any one of us to know what caused them to accept something like that." Resident Marilyn Banks said Blacks should take a look at the Waco cult tragedy and get back to the basics taught in Black churches. "We've got to have our own minds and if you follow the Bible, that is the book. And when you start deviating from it, that's when you end up being in trouble."
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