Monday, May 9, 2005
My first link to the Huffington Post! I predict that that place is going to be providing one heck of a lot of blog-fodder.
There's a "blog" entry from (I feel like I should say "purporting to be from" in this case for some reason) Russell Simmons, chastising the ADL's Abe Foxman for calling on African-American leaders to "reconsider their support" for the upcoming "Millions More" march commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March. Simmons says that opposing the march will...wait for it...create more anti-Semitism! In the piece he doesn't get into his reasons, but this should be a familiar canard. Speaking out against anti-Semitism and hate just creates more of the same. Don't get uppity! It only makes matters worse.
Foxman opposes the march because its organizers, Louis Farrakhan and Malik Zulu Shabazz are virulent anti-Semites. They're not anti-Semites because Jews don't like them, they're anti-Semites because they don't like Jews! They don't need a reason. They need to be opposed.
And we're not talking about a mild case of the hate, like saying "Some of my best friends are Jews," or "Psst...You know those Jews, they're a little cheap..." or even once calling New York City "HymieTown." These guys make a living off Jew hate.
Here's Farrakhan this past February:
Shabazz is the head of the New Black Panther party, quoted as saying:
At a recent appearance at Carnegie Mellon University, in which members of his "security" entourage paraded around carrying nightsticks, one student described the scene:
These aren't quotes out of context. These quotes are a career.
I can't wait to hear his speech at the march. And these are the people Russell Simmons thinks Jews shouldn't speak out against. I have a question, why aren't more African Americans joining their voices with Abe Foxman's? If these are the best that the Black Community has to offer, what does that say about the sorry state of Black leadership in America today?
Russell Simmons thinks that Abe Foxman should be quiet and take this opportunity to embrace the positive aspects of the march (the same argument that was made ten years ago), and take this as an opportunity for dialogue. What kind of dialogue is that? We know what Farrakhan and Shabazz think of Jews. What is there to say to them? Where do you start? "We're sorry for being conniving cheats...really we are...and we apologize for everything in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion too while we're at it."
If the KKK were sponsoring a "Mom, Dad and Apple Pie" summer picnic, would Simmons suggest we all attend and focus on the positive for that one day and forget about the rest of the 364 days of the year? Of course not! You don't give legitimacy to groups like the KKK for putting on one day of happy face, and you shouldn't do it for Farrakhan and Shabazz, either.
Simmons:
You know what's sad? Simmons is probably right in that, and that's too bad. It shouldn't take Abe Foxman issuing a press release to encourage Black leaders to do what they should be doing for themselves.
Update: Abe Foxman has his own response here (and hits most of the same points I do, only more...professionally).
I am culturally a Jewish American, but I am not at all religious. I am far from a zionist, and am actually more than a bit against Israeli policies as they are now. I teach Sociology at the University of Washington. I love Russell Simmons and all of his work and related hip hop stars. I have been a fan my whole life. The jewish Beastie Boys started out on def jam, that was serious progress. I don't blame Russell for his view on the millions more march, again, it is sadly correct. Let the so called millions have their march. There will be many diverse views represented there, as was the case last time. There was very little anti-semitism expressed at the last march, I hope this march will be the same. Farrakahn's speech last march was very inclusive in nature. Remeber, all lectures are tailored to the crowd. I am quite upset with what was done at the Black Panther lecture as stated above. It is ridiculous to think anybody at a college talk hosted by the Black Panther Party was a 'zionist'. That kind of behavior will only serve to keep the panthers marginalized. As for Lewis Farrakahn, I have major problems with some of the things he has said, and probably done, but have also seen many of the good things he has said ignored or taken out of context. Like all peoples, jewish history is littered with evil. As is African history, and all histories, as we all know. One can choose to focus on that evil. Farrakhan, and all of us, are much more persuasive when we choose not to focus on the evil. I hope the NOI and there future leaders come to realize this. As for Russell Simmons, there may not be anybody better suited to bridge gaps between Jewish Americans and African Americans. I believe, for that reason alone, we as Jewish Americans and African Americans should listen to Russell Simmons' advice, and hopefully, follow it.
Joshua Kane
UW Sociology