Louis Farrakhan, the Separatist

"God made a call for black men to take a stand... (We) showed up for atonement and reconciliation."

ATLANTA (UPI) -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan offered a stern warning in Atlanta that the U.S. political climate is threatening to African-American men.

Farrakhan said Tuesday at a ceremony marking the 12th annual Holy Day of Atonement and the 12th anniversary of the Million Man March at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center that he believes black men may be headed for extinction, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday.

"Politics and the racial environment is threatening the human family," Farrakhan said. "But black males, in particular, are endangered. Our attitudes, our ignorance, our savagery are all lending to a plan -- a conspiracy to make the black man, not endangered, but extinct... If God doesn't intervene, we will be extinct."

Ishmael Muhammad, the Nation's national assistant minister, echoed Farrakhan's statements and invoked the memory of the historic 1995 march on Washington.

"God made a call for black men to take a stand... (We) showed up for atonement and reconciliation," Muhammad said. "We accepted 12 years ago the responsibility to be better men, better fathers and better husbands. It was a day never before experienced in our history."