About Louis Farrakhan........ [View All]

[BronxBoy]

I was actually composing this post as a reply to a thread where someone asked "Why do people like Louis Farrakhan?" In my opinion, that's the wrong questions. The real question is how have progressives and all others concerned with LF's known bigotry allow such a vacuum to be created that Farrakhan can still have millions of Black people want to hear what he has to say, whether they like him or not.

Look LF has never had a substantial or significant following in the Black community. Whether you like it or not the Black religious experience will always be a Christian experience. And I find it interesting if you look at Black culture, that Christian experience seems to be deepening. So Black folk aren't going to sign up with NOI in droves because they have in interest in what LF has to say. But recent events have probably given LF inroads that he might not have otherwise had.

And like it or not, LF has proven that he has the ability to pull a broad cross section of Black people together. If you took the time to watch any of the march yesterday, you had to be struck by the very broad representation of various groups that they were able to pull together. I've been trying to respond to any LF thread to remind people that the real issue, especially, after Katrina is that we have to stay focused on the message and not the messenger. If there is an overwhelming feeling in the Black community after Katrina, it's that we were left to die in NOLA and that anyone who even had a smidgen of an illusion that we could get a fair shake in this country had that illusion ground into dust. So when one of the first things that LF says in his speech was that FEMA seemed to work just fine when four hurricanes hit Florida last year, it resonates very deeply with Black folk whether they like the man or not.

LF and the Nation of Islam have also been very, very good at attracting segments of the Black community that have always been felt put upon, prisoners and rappers being to of the more important ones. I'm old school so I really don't listen to rap (Jazz, Blues and Old School Jams for me). But that is starting to change. Rap is a worldwide musical force right now. The NY Times even had an article about the proliferation of Palestinian rap groups. And quite frankly, it is a tremendous force that is often neglected and demonized by the mainstream political parties. Say what you want about rap: But Kanye West goes on national TV and says that "Bush doesn't like Black people" and his cd goes platinum that same week. That ain't a coincidence. And who was one of the first organizations to really reach out and embrace the Hip Hop Generation? None other than LF and the NOI. Meanwhile, when it was convenient, the Dems had absolutely no qualms about using Hip Hop to play the race card when it suited their needs (Sista Soljah anyone?) Tha mainstream Democratic party is rapidly losing the ability to connect with our children. So instead of asking "Why do people like LF?" Ask instead how is the Democratic party going to attract the loyalties of the millions of Black youth, it routinely ignores or treats as a political kick ball? Current Black Democrats will one day be dead....Whose going to take their place? Young Black people who are currently being ignored.

The other thing I'd like to comment on is LF's known bigotry and homophobia. I've seen quite a few posts that says that progressives should be just as firm in condemning bigotry, even if it occurs in our own back yard. I posted before about how one of the most heartbreaking things I ever read was a Village Voice article about how the Fruit of Islam pretty much ex-communicated a man on his deathbed because he had AIDS. So I'm under no illusions about what LF and the NOI has stood for in the past. But those who take a position that we shouldn't listen to LF because of his known bigotry are missing two key points: The current mood of Black people in America and the fact that moral absolutes are a double edged sword.

First of all, I think a lot of people really don't understand the effect Katrina has had on the Black American psyche. Aside from the disgust and white hot rage that our people had after seeing the way the government treated our people and all of the justifications and excuses made for the lack of response from the government, there was the ensuing media coverage. We were pretty much described as savages who, with one natural disaster reverted to the ways of the jungle. I think that's the thing that made me most angry. First we were left to the mercy of a storm and then we were subjected to some of the most fucked up stereotypes this side of Amos and Andy. Just think about the fantastic stories: Children getting gang raped. Children getting their throats cut and then being frozen. Wild eyed junkies firing on hospitals so they can get their fix. Stories that for the most part, most Black people felt were bullshit but were beamed around the nation and world without anyone even attempting to find out if they were true. Oh yeah, we're pissed about it. It's as if Katrina unleashed another storm surge. But this storm surge didn't consist of wind and water but instead brought forth a tidal wave of some of the most fucked up racial commentary I have seen in some time. And it's being talked about in depth amongst our community.

I attended a performance of a pretty popular Black play about 2 weeks ago. After the play, the lead performer and playwright came out and started kicking it with the audience. He explained that he had stopped watching network news many years ago but he decided to tune in after Katrina to keep tabs on events. He said that based on the depictions of Black people in nightly newscasts, he would never watch mainstream news again. And keep in mind that he was saying this to an audience of 5,000 overwhelmingly Black people and that he had 6 performances to do. And the message was felt and shared by everyone.

So to the folks who believe in moral absolutes, I ask where were you when this was being done? In the post I described earlier, the author cited statements from both the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center. I went to both of their sites expecting to find a wealth of information on the media coverage and the ongoing negative portrayal of Black people. Know what I found: Nothing. Nada. Zilch. NYET. NOT A GOD DAMN THING. The ADL had a small article about how some racists are rearing their ugly head. But their commentary on LF was front and center. When the Congressional Black Caucus had a press conference about the response to Katrina, they should have been ringed by all of the groups who always seem to find time to find LF so repugnant. Instead they did it alone as they usually do, and according to some posts I read here, their offices were besieged by Angy callers.

So believe in moral absolutes all you want: But at this point in our collective Black existence, Black people aren't trying to hear this. We really don't want to hear about homophobia when thousands of Black babies were herded into the Superdome without adequate food, water or diapers. And we really don't want to hear about Anti-semitism when former cabinet members of the US can openly discuss aborting all Black babies.

Like I said deal with the issues, not the man. I'm going to close with the following: All of the people so busy slamming LF without discussing the issues he speaks to and including people in the discussion that he includes better be prepared for Black folk to sit on our asses or vote 3rd party in the next election cycles. I've heard both scenarios discussed. So instead of pissing and moaning about LF, you better buy a clue and learn to speak to the issues to the audiences that progressives desperately need with the passion that he does.