{"id":106630,"date":"2023-08-28T17:05:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T15:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106630"},"modified":"2023-08-28T14:09:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T12:09:45","slug":"02-05-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106630","title":{"rendered":"Obama\u2019s Non-Responses to Black Antisemitism"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Obama\u2019s Non-Responses to Black Antisemitism<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Eunice G. Pollack<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Former US President Barack Obama. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

JNS.org<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/em>In his 2017 book\u00a0Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama<\/em>\u00a0and a\u00a0Tablet<\/em>\u00a0interview this month, historian David Garrow revealed that Obama refused to take a stand against black antisemitism in the late 1980s when, as a Loyola University professor put it at the time, \u201cvirulent antisemitism has gripped Chicago\u2019s black community.\u201d Andrew Greeley, a Chicago priest and author, warned, \u201cIf I were Jewish, I would be terrified.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1988, the press reported that Steve Cokely, a \u201cfavorite aide\u201d of the acting mayor Eugene Sawyer, had given a series of talks to followers of the Nation of Islam (NOI) in which he alleged that Jewish doctors were injecting black babies with AIDS, which Jews had invented. After Sawyer fired him, black student organizations hosted Cokely, who inverted the Holocaust, claiming that Jews were \u201cbuilding gas chambers to kill blacks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Louis Farrakhan, head of the NOI since 1977, allowed, \u201cI do not know whether [Cokely\u2019s claim about AIDS] was true,\u201d but AIDS \u201ccould well be \u2026 a manufactured virus.\u201d Nonetheless, Farrakhan insisted that Jewish leaders were upset \u201cbecause the truth hurts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Farrakhan had recently informed reporters that as soon as he \u201cbecame the voice of the poor\u201d and \u201cnearly 50,000\u201d turned out to hear him, the Jews had unleashed crack cocaine\u2014another weapon of mass destruction\u2014on the black community. This was his racialized update of the 14th century libel that Jews had poisoned the wells of Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Chicago, Obama refused to repudiate or challenge Cokely\u2019s charges, even though this caused a \u201cbig fight\u201d with the woman with whom he was living, whose paternal grandparents had been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1995, Obama attended and supported the NOI\u2019s Million Man March, at which Farrakhan, by then the country\u2019s leading antisemite, delivered his two-hour \u201ccoronation address.\u201d It was aptly described by historian Sean Wilentz as \u201cracialized mishmash, delivered in world-class demagogic style.\u201d The March enhanced Farrakhan\u2019s stature \u201csignificantly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Notably, the March was held not long after the NOI published\u2014and distributed to students\u2014the anonymous 1991 screed\u00a0The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews<\/em>. The book attributed \u201cmonumental culpability\u201d for the Atlantic slave trade to Jews\u2014a monumental lie. As the eminent historian David Brion Davis concluded, Jews had only a \u201cvery marginal place\u201d in the slave trade. Again, Obama was silent.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2005, Farrakhan\u2019s status was further elevated when the Congressional Black Caucus invited him to its legislative weekend, called \u201cthe Super Bowl of black politics and activism.\u201d There, then-Senator Obama \u201cmet privately\u201d with Farrakhan. A journalist snapped a picture of the pair together, smiling broadly. The photo was suppressed at the \u201cimmediate\u201d request of a Caucus member. It was released only in 2018 after Obama left office.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notably, a 2005 poll found that 36% of African Americans held \u201cstrong antisemitic beliefs\u201d\u2014four times the percentage of whites.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2007-2008, during Obama\u2019s successful run for the Democratic presidential nomination, he was asked for his views on Farrakhan. He responded, after a fashion. For over 20 years Obama had been a member of Chicago\u2019s Trinity United Church of Christ, whose minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, had a long and strong relationship with the NOI leader. Wright had even gone with Farrakhan to Tripoli to meet Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator, who later pledged $1 billion to Farrakhan. Obama acknowledged that he considered Wright his \u201cmoral compass\u201d and had \u201cprayed privately\u201d with him before announcing his candidacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2007,\u00a0Trumpet Magazine<\/em>, owned by Wright\u2019s church, gave its Trumpeter Award to Farrakhan, who, it gushed, \u201ctruly epitomized greatness.\u201d Wright then praised Farrakhan for his \u201cintegrity and honesty\u201d and \u201castounding and eye-opening \u2026 depth of analysis\u201d of \u201cthe racial life of this nation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked to comment, Obama dodged. \u201cI assume the \u2026 decision to honor Farrakhan was based on his effort to rehabilitate ex-offenders,\u201d he said, which had not been mentioned at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, Farrakhan rehabilitated offenders by indoctrinating them in hatred of Jews: \u201cLiars and thieves, you! Murderers and gamblers and \u2026 freaks. \u2026 Coke-usin\u2019, reefer-smokin\u2019, pill-poppin\u2019, heroin-shootin\u2019 self. \u2026 Because you under the rule and order of maker\u2014made by Jews into devils. Tha\u2019s why they don\u2019t want me to talk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet no one challenged Obama\u2019s spin.<\/span><\/p>\n

In February 2008, during a debate with Hillary Clinton, Obama once again sidestepped the issue. When moderator Tim Russert asked for Obama\u2019s reaction to Farrakhan\u2019s recent endorsement of his candidacy, Obama responded, \u201cI did not solicit his support. \u2026 I can\u2019t say to somebody that he can\u2019t say that he thinks I\u2019m a good guy.\u201d He added that he planned to make restoring ties between blacks and Jews a priority. \u201cI have some of the strongest support from the Jewish community in my hometown of Chicago and in this campaign,\u201d he asserted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Left unmentioned was Farrakhan\u2019s notorious query to a gathering of blacks: \u201cWhat should be done with black leaders who seek Jewish support?\u201d The response was \u201cKill them!\u201d Farrakhan agreed: \u201cI didn\u2019t say it. I just seconded the motion!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when Clinton retorted that Obama\u2019s response to Farrakhan was not as strong as her own, Obama\u2019s response was narrowly focused, though it elicited widespread praise in the press. He said, \u201cI have been very clear in my denunciation of Minister Farrakhan\u2019s antisemitic comments. I think that they are unacceptable and reprehensible.\u201d Clinton countered, \u201cThere\u2019s a difference between denouncing and rejecting.\u201d Obama rejoined, \u201cI\u2019m happy to concede the point and I would reject and denounce.\u201d There the colloquy ended.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue, however, was not just \u201cMinister Farrakhan\u2019s antisemitic comments.\u201d It was the NOI\u2019s antisemitic belief system\u2014its foundation stone\u2014that Farrakhan, \u201cthe Messenger of God,\u201d preached. This ideology evoked the devotion of massive numbers of blacks, far beyond the NOI membership. When Farrakhan spoke to overflow crowds at black colleges and universities, students responded with standing ovations and expressions of awe. They characterized his address as transformative, \u201cempowering\u201d\u2014he \u201cawakened their soul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Obama did not mention this antisemitic ideology. He did not acknowledge that the core of NOI theology\u2014and of Farrakhan\u2019s sermons\u2014is the delegitimization of Judaism. It is always characterized as a \u201cdirty religion\u201d and Jews are always denigrated as \u201cImposter Jews\u201d and \u201cEnemies of God.\u201d The NOI taught and Farrakhan \u201crevealed\u201d that \u201cfrom the first day\u201d the Jews \u201creceived the Divine Scriptures\u201d 4,000 years ago, \u201cthey started tampering with its truth,\u201d crafting a counterfeit text. They fashioned a new deity who blessed their Satanic mission, which was, above all, \u201cto master\u201d the Black nation and, ultimately, \u201ctheir own white brethren as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201caltering the Word,\u201d the \u201cso-called Jews\u201d even usurped the status of \u201cthe Chosen of God,\u201d which belonged to \u201cthe Black Man.\u201d The blacks of America \u201care the lost sheep of the Bible \u2026 not Israel.\u201d The NOI teaches that, although hidden by the Jews, \u201cthe Book of Deuteronomy \u2026 it\u2019s all about you!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s a people that stole your birthright and are running around like they are the Chosen of God, and the choice of God is sittin\u2019 under their foot,\u201d Farrakhan railed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Less than two years into Obama\u2019s presidency, Farrakhan announced to wildly cheering crowds that he had \u201cdeciphered the meaning\u201d of the Star of David, with its \u201csix sides \u2026 six angles \u2026 each angle 60 degrees. Well, you have six, six and six,\u201d which \u201cthe Bible says [is] the number of the Beast.\u201d With no one who might have made a difference challenging him, Farrakhan had clinched his case: The Jews adopted the symbol of Satan once they became his agents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, however, as Farrakhan now proclaimed, \u201cThe time of their end has come! \u2026 The masquerade is over!\u201d The massive audience responded with a \u201cthunderous standing ovation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Obama was, once again, silent.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Obama\u2019s Non-Responses to Black Antisemitism Eunice G. Pollack Former US President Barack Obama. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. JNS.org\u00a0\u2013\u00a0In his 2017 book\u00a0Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama\u00a0and a\u00a0Tablet\u00a0interview this month, historian David Garrow revealed that Obama refused to take a stand against black antisemitism in the late 1980s when, as a Loyola University professor put it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106630"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106630"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106644,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106630\/revisions\/106644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}