WASHINGTON�It was the closest and most fiercely contested national election in American history. And Blacks, whether energized as participants, or seen as unwanted, were key players in the drama at the polls Nov. 7, 2000 and in its emotional aftermath.

After a week of counting and recounting ballots, by the evening of Nov. 12, Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, led Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican, by 200,000 (less than 0.2 percent) of more than 101 million votes cast in the presidential popular vote.

A far narrower, razor-thin margin of disputed votes in Florida still separated the two candidates at Final Call press time as both camps awaited the outcome of absentee ballots and court battles. The prize once the fight is over will be 25 electoral college votes�enough to propel one man into the White House provided no other challenges or recounts are mounted in states Mr. Gore won by slim margins.

There were "substantial increases" in Black voter turnout nationwide, thanks in part to the encouragement of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at the Million Family March (MFM) Oct. 16 in Washington.

Black voters went to the polls and voted overwhelmingly for Vice President Gore and Democrats in every region of the country, especially in key states, according to Dr. David Bositis, of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

For example: in 1996, Black voters were 10 percent of the total vote in Florida; this year they were 16 percent. In Missouri, Black voters were 5 percent in 1996; this year they were 12 percent. In Tennessee, Blacks were 13 percent in 1996; this year they were 20 percent. In North Carolina, in 1996 Blacks were 18 percent; this year they were 21 percent. Much of the 1996 increase was attributed to the 1.7 million new Black male voters who marched to the polls as a direct result of the 1995 Million Man March convened by Min. Farrakhan.

But there were also efforts to limit and block Blacks this year from exercising their franchise in key districts nationwide, activists added.

"We have one of the first times in history where a political party went to court to close the polls, specifically to prevent Black people from voting," said Min. Benjamin F. Muhammad, national director of the Million FamilyMarch (www.millionfamilymarch.com), in an interview.

Successful GOP efforts to close the polls in St. Louis, Mo., while thousands of Blacks waited in line to cast their ballots were symptomatic of a seemingly "anti-Black-voter" bias that characterized Republican strategy in several battleground states, he added.

Calling that decision and others clear violations federal laws that protect Black voting rights, MFM organizers, leaders of the NAACP and political scientists are studying and compiling evidence of these violations in the election aftermath.

"If that was Minnesota, they would have kept the polling places open as long as necessary for the people who were already in line," said Dr. Bositis, who observed that Kansas City and St. Louis�where the appeals court ordered polls closed�are the two major centers of Black population in Missouri. There were reports of major election day "irregularities" not only in Florida, but in other Black population centers as well�Cleveland, Atlanta, Detroit, and Nashville, among others.

"In Florida, they�re trying to steal the election. The issue now is not about Mr. Gore or Mr. Bush, it�s about the right of our vote to be counted. People will be marching all across the nation this week about the integrity of this vote," said Rev. Jesse Jackson, during a Nov. 10 gathering at his Rainbow Push Coalition headquarters in Chicago.

In some Florida spots, registered voters who were told their name did not appear on lists at polling places were turned away, polls closed with people in line and Haitian immigrants, who spoke Creole, were shown a picture of Vice President Gore with Gov. Bush�s punch number underneath it, the civil rights leader charged.

Dr. Bositis said state police in Florida engaged in what amounted to "racial profiling" of voters, setting up check points near Black polling places which may have depressed the turnout.

But according to one now-disenchanted Black Republican, it wasn�t roadblocks that stopped Blacks from voting for Mr. Bush, it was a strategy to not raise issues that might inspire Blacks to vote at all.

Webster Brooks III, former political director of the National Black Republican Leadership Council, called the tactic "strategic non-engagement," during an interview with The Final Call.

"They made a decision early-on that their best possible way to win the election was to do everything they could to see that there was a low Black turnout. The way to implement that strategy was to talk as little as possible about those issues perceived as Black issues, and to take a very low-key approach in hopes that Blacks would not get excited about the election, and that the turnouts would be low," he charged.

Once the Florida votes are re-canvassed by hand, all the state and federal court challenges are exhausted or a concession made, the "winner" will face a daunting task of leading a divided nation, commented Dr. Ray Winbush, director of the Race Relations Institute and a professor of psychology at Fisk University.

"Underlying all of what we�re seeing over the past three days is the issue of race, which has been successfully masked," Dr. Winbush said in an interview Nov. 10. "It�s a fault line just like the San Andreas fault for earthquakes � and the potential for the U.S. being ungovernable is here right now.

"Whoever becomes president, I don�t care if it�s Gore or Bush, is going to have the most divided country since the Civil War, which was also an issue of race," he said.

Looking at a map with states won by the two major presidential candidates marked, reveals a national division�North vs. South, urban vs. rural, white vs. Black�almost identical to a Civil War map when the state labels were Union vs. Confederate, free vs. slave, Dr. Winbush said.

"Unless we are seriously careful, what this means is that many of the gains that African Americans have made over the decade can slip away from us," said Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), citing affirmative action and equal opportunity and access to education. "The struggle intensifies for African Americans to simply hold on to what we got."

Blacks actively involved in the Bush campaign insist the Texas governor�s promise to reach out across partisan lines to unite the country extends to everyone�even though 90 percent of the Black vote went to Democrats.

"First of all, it goes both ways," said Deborah Burstion-Donbraye, outreach coordinator for the Ohio Republican Party and an Electoral College delegate. "But of course as a leader, the onus is more on (Gov. Bush) than it is on the people. From the beginning, he�s always reached out. I think he�s proved that in Texas in the six years he�s been in power there."

She is more bothered that Mr. Gore could automatically count on Black support, saying Democrats take Blacks for granted, and often don�t court their votes.

To say Mr. Bush and running mate Dick Cheney would mean a return to the bad old days of segregation is shameful, said Ms. Burstion-Donbraye. Such scare tactics are insulting to Blacks and ignore serious problems, the Ohio Republican added.

Others note the outreach efforts of the Republican National Committee in sponsoring events in battleground states called "African Americans for Victory 2000," and an energetic get-out-the-vote-effort led by House Republican Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (R-Okla.).

Yvonne Davis, a member of the Bush For President National Finance Committee, maintains that Mr. Bush, if elected, will be the president for all, and will not avenge his lack of support in the Black community by enacting punitive policies.

"The governor recognizes that the Republican Party has not done what it is supposed to do when it comes to African Americans or minorities," said Ms. Davis, who traveled around the country with the Bush campaign during the final weeks before the election.

While disillusioned, Mr. Brooks agrees with those who trust George W. Bush. "I think Bush�s character is probably better than how he is politically perceived. But he has to have the courage to break away from his handlers and go more with his gut, in terms of seeing the necessity to take steps to begin to foster a sense of reconciliation," he said.

Blacks in the Bush administration in Texas are confident that Mr. Bush will hold his most conservative advisers to the same high standard, said Ms. Davis.

"The media has made this election a debacle. The last thing they want to see is that there is probably a Republican who actually cares about people, because it�s good to continue to label people. It�s good to continue to label Min. Farrakhan. It�s good label a lot of people, because it fits the scheme of things," she argued.

Nation of Islam Chief of Staff Leonard F. Muhammad said Mr. Gore wouldn�t be in the position of fighting for his political life "if the Democratic Party had not been reluctant to openly ask Minister Farrakhan for his help and endorse the Million Family March National Agenda."

"I think there would be no question now who would be the next president. It would be Gore," he said. "Whoever advised him against that, I think gave him bad advice, even though we helped. But the way we helped is by calling for our people to come out and vote. Had he endorsed the Agenda, perhaps Min. Farrakhan would have endorsed him as a candidate and I think that would have made the difference for Gore," he said.

Furthermore, Republicans ought to realize that the Black community is now more enlightened and if they chose to court the Black vote Republicans could cut into the Democratic vote, Mr. Muhammad said. "Most Black people are in the Democratic Party are in it by default and they are dissatisfied. It�s unfortunate that the Republican Party doesn�t offer itself as a viable alternative," he said.

Photo: Irene Barthold, right, a Gore supporter exchanges words with Jack Rempriest, a Bush supporter, during a rally near the Palm Beach Elections Office Thursday Nov. 9, 2000. Credit: World Wide Photos