Page "Moonie (nickname)" Paragraph 9

The Unification Church hired civil rights activist Ralph Abernathy to equate the word " Moonie " with the word " nigger ".

Abernathy was also the vice president of the Unification Church-affiliated American Freedom Coalition, and served on boards of directors for two other related organizations.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, by 1989 Unification Church members preferred to be called " Unificationists " rather than " Moonies.

" The Washington Post reported that " Unification Church members are being advised no longer to accept the designation of ' Moonie ,' and to declare any such nomenclature as indicative of a prejudiced view of the church.

" In 1989 the Chicago Tribune was picketed after referring to members of the Unification Church as Moonies.

Sun Myung Moon directed minister and civil rights leader James Bevel to form a protest by religious officials against the Chicago Tribune because of the newspaper's use of the word.

Bevel handed out fliers at the protest which said: " Are the Moonies our new niggers?