# Democrats and Farrakhan **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 8, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237 "2018-03-08T15:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/1 "2018-03-08T15:02:16Z")
[Why Won’t Women’s March Leaders Denounce Louis Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism?](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/is-it-so-hard-to-denounce-louis-farrakhans-anti-semitism.html) > [@](#): > > Two weeks ago, during a Saviours’ Day event to commemorate the life of Nation of Islam founder Master Fard Muhammad, Louis Farrakhan had some things to say about Jews. The “powerful Jews,” he told the audience inside Wintrust Arena in Chicago, “are my enemy.” The Jews are also “responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men” — that is, for the existence of transgender people, which Farrakhan apparently views as a pressing moral concern. He issued a warning to a subset of the Jewish community — “Farrakhan has pulled the cover off the eyes of the Satanic Jew and I’m here to say your time is up, your world is through. You good Jews better separate because the satanic ones will take you to hell with them because that’s where they are headed.” > > […] > > What made this address different was one of the attendees: Tamika D. Mallory, co-president of the successful Women’s March organization that has served as an important part of the anti-Trump resistance movement ever since it was formed. During the portion of his speech not dedicated to recycling ages-old anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Farrakhan explicitly praised both the March and Mallory herself. Mallory posted an Instagram video of herself at the event, and previously had posted a photo of herself with Farrakhan describing him as the “GOAT,” or “greatest of all time.” > > Once Mallory’s attendance at the event was revealed, she was repeatedly asked to denounce Farrakhan’s rhetoric, and she declined to do so. When she addressed the controversy, she did so vaguely. In one tweet, she did denounce anti-Semitism and transphobia without explicitly mentioning Farrakhan; in another, she made the dispute out to be some sort of thorny moral dilemma entailing “nuance & complexities.” [Louis Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism and the silence of the left](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-met-anti-semitism-democrats-farrakhan-20180306-story.html) > [@](#): > > And if it weren’t for The Daily Caller and CNN’s Jake Tapper, we wouldn’t have known about a particularly ugly Farrakhan eruption the other day at his Saviours’ Day 2018 address. > > We also wouldn’t have known about the tortured logic that some, like U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, the Chicago Democrat, use to explain their relationship with Farrakhan. > > “White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew and I’m here to say your time is up, your world is through," Farrakhan said in his speech. > > […] > > The Daily Caller has called out others on their relationship with Farrakhan, from U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of California to Democratic Party Vice Chairman Keith Ellison. And so far, from them and others on the left, you hear crickets. > > “I’m a pretty global individual. So I know Farrakhan, I know the Middle East question, I know the Jews and Farrakhan — I know all that, but that’s not what I spend all my time focused on,” Davis was quoted as saying by the Daily Caller. “I know Farrakhan, been knowing him for years and years and years and years and years, and every once in a while some writer or somebody will I guess try to think of something to say about Farrakhan, but nah, my world is so much bigger than any of that. I don’t have time for that. I deal with it, you know, when it comes but nah, that’s not a real part of my focus. > > “That’s just one segment of what goes on in our world. The world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and the Jewish question and his position on that and so forth. For those heavy into it, that’s their thing, but it ain’t my thing,” he said. So is racism such a nuanced issue? Or is there something different about anti-Semitism? Or Democrats? Or African-Americans? Personally I think the answer is yes to all these questions. The world is a complex place, and black politicians who are not personally anti-Semites have a problem in dealing with Farrakhan’s popularity in the AA community, and in turn, Democrats have a problem in dealing with their AA constituency. But while the specifics of this situation may be unique, the broader point is a general one, and not just about racism either. It’s easy to take a firm and unyielding stance on all sorts of issues when you’re not in the hot seat and when you can sanctimoniously point at your opponents. It becomes much more “nuanced” when it’s about you and your own practical considerations and broader aims. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/2 "2018-03-08T15:13:43Z")
By “Democrats” do you actually mean “one or two Democrats”? If so, then may I presume that you would be o.k. if the entire Republican Party be smeared as racist and sexist because certain members aren’t totally denounced publicly by the Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/3 "2018-03-08T15:27:07Z")
> > > THE HONORABLE MINISTER LOUIS FARRAKHAN @LouisFarrakhan > [@](#): > > This is unacceptable in a progressive coalition or any political coalition. Antisemitism has no place in American society. We must reject this, left right and center. > > [@](#): > > Co-sign, Senator. Thank you for speaking up on this. There is no possible compromise with anti-Semitism. We must condemn it. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/4 "2018-03-08T15:28:08Z")
I think OP makes a compelling argument which doesn’t require us to run to whataboutism or othersideism. I’d be interested in hearing if prominent Democratic leaders, like Waters and Ellison among others, do respond and address their position on Farrakhan’s long standing anti-semitic and trans-phobic rhetoric. What’s the calculus here I wonder on the Dem Pols side? Do they think that many AAs are anti-semites but vote overwhelmingly for Democrats so they don’t want to risk them not showing up to the polls if the Dem leaders denounce Farrakhan and those who support him? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/5 "2018-03-08T15:30:03Z")
Who’s Louis Farrakhan, again? ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/6 "2018-03-08T15:30:34Z")
From the [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/03/07/keith-ellison-takes-over-the-democrats-universal-health-care-bill/?utm_term=.d4e019925cd7) > [@](#): > > At the same time, Ellison (D-Minn.) is facing a new round of questions and attacks about his former support of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam — questions that dogged him in his first race for Congress and his near miss run for DNC chairman last year, even after he condemned Farrakhan. > > […] > > “None of my colleagues ever asked me about that, only reporters,” Ellison said. “I am telling you — no one cares. I’ve been all over Minnesota, all over Alabama, all over Missouri, all over Pennsylvania and Connecticut, and nobody ever asked me about this. People ask me about wages, about pay, about health care, about guns, about immigration. They ask me all kinds of challenging questions. But for some reason, some folks in the Fourth Estate think that this Farrakhan thing needs to be inquired about instead.” > > The support from Ellison’s colleagues clashed mightily with the attention he’s gotten from Republican groups, which have sought to portray him as too toxic to help his party in swing states and swing districts. In January, after the owner of a photo showing Barack Obama with Farrakhan acknowledged that he had concealed it before the 2008 election, the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial on the Democrats’ “Farrakhan problem,” spotlighting Democrats who had attended Nation of Islam events. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/7 "2018-03-08T15:33:46Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > What’s the calculus here I wonder on the Dem Pols side? Do they think that many AAs are anti-semites but vote overwhelmingly for Democrats so they don’t want to risk them not showing up to the polls if the Dem leaders denounce Farrakhan and those who support him? Anti-Semitism is higher among AAs than among whites, but that’s not the real issue, I think. There are many AAs who are not themselves anti-Semitic but who admire Farrakhan for other positive things he’s done, and think his anti-Semitism should be overlooked. You start denouncing him and you alienate these people (many of whom will also think you’re a racist who didn’t denounce white people in parallel situations, and so on. See e.g. the John Conyers dance et al). ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/8 "2018-03-08T15:43:49Z")
-Richard Spencer -Stephen Miller -David Duke -“Blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us” chants at Charlottesville -“Some very good people” -President retweeting someone who just got convicted on hate crime charges in the UK …yeah it’s the Democrats that have a problem with antisemitism and bigotry. Uh huh :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/9 "2018-03-08T15:47:38Z")
Golly, I thought whataboutism and ‘both sides do it’ were so frowned upon around here. Guess not always! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/10 "2018-03-08T15:53:31Z")
Farrakhan’s history of anti-semitism should be condemned without reservation. And it is by most Democrats, in my understanding. Including Ellison, who also apologized for not recognizing it when writing as a student in defense of Farrakhan around 1990: [Keith Ellison - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison#Denunciation_of_the_Nation_of_Islam_in_2006) I think it’s fair to criticize activists who rhetorically embrace or praise or ally themselves with Farrakhan, whether or not they are aware of his history of anti-semitism. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/11 "2018-03-08T15:57:38Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > -Richard Spencer > -Stephen Miller > -David Duke > -“Blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us” chants at Charlottesville > -“Some very good people” > -President retweeting someone who just got convicted on hate crime charges in the UK > > …yeah it’s the Democrats that have a problem with antisemitism and bigotry. Uh huh :rolleyes: There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep your own house clean. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/12 "2018-03-08T16:02:08Z")
I don’t disagree at all. I just thought that “concern” being expressed was a bit curious given the larger context, and who is expressing that “concern”. Antisemitism should have no place anywhere in our politics, on either side. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/13 "2018-03-08T16:02:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep your own house clean. I agree. But you don’t like being told you need to mop your kitchen floor by people who live in a toxic waste site. If Fotheringay-Phipps thinks bigotry is a problem in American politics, he can find a lot more places to work on it in his own party. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/14 "2018-03-08T16:16:52Z")
Did you people even read the OP? Or do your knees just jerk at the sight of a buzzword? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/15 "2018-03-08T16:17:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Who’s Louis Farrakhan, again? A relevant question - it’s possible to be a conscientious liberal and simply not care about Farrakhan because his relevance has diminished significantly, and there will always be cranks and bigots on the fringe (and their followers), and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to condemn them all to the satisfaction of some seemingly-concerned third party. That said, it would be different if Farrakhan held elected office and was in position to form government policy, or had the ear of those who could, as seemed the case when Farrakhan met occasionally with Obama. At that point, statements of condemnation and opposition would be far more likely and justified. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/16 "2018-03-08T16:18:24Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Anti-Semitism is higher among AAs than among whites, but that’s not the real issue, I think. There are many AAs who are not themselves anti-Semitic but who admire Farrakhan for other positive things he’s done, and think his anti-Semitism should be overlooked. You start denouncing him and you alienate these people (many of whom will also think you’re a racist who didn’t denounce white people in parallel situations, and so on. See e.g. the John Conyers dance et al). We’re talking Waters, Ellison and Davis. All members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Are significant numbers of AA voters going to be alienated if these elected officials came out against Farrakhan? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/17 "2018-03-08T16:18:51Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Farrakhan’s history of anti-semitism should be condemned without reservation. And it is by most Democrats, in my understanding. Including Ellison, who also apologized for not recognizing it when writing as a student in defense of Farrakhan around 1990: [Keith Ellison - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison#Denunciation_of_the_Nation_of_Islam_in_2006) > > I think it’s fair to criticize activists who rhetorically embrace or praise or ally themselves with Farrakhan, whether or not they are aware of his history of anti-semitism. So in other words, Ellison has recognized it, condemned it, and apologized for not recognizing it or condemning it earlier, and now journalists and his opposition bring it out as a cheap shot hoping to get traction on it. Hey, a Black American Muslim was involved in the Nation of Islam in 1990 while a student. That’s like saying that a white male liberal college student supported Bernie Sanders in 2016. That doesn’t mean they bought into the whole enchilada. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/18 "2018-03-08T16:19:43Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Did you people even read the OP? Or do your knees just jerk at the sight of a buzzword? Who do you mean by “you people”? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/19 "2018-03-08T16:20:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Who do you mean by “you people”? “Juden”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237/20 "2018-03-08T16:25:07Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Did you people even read the OP? Or do your knees just jerk at the sight of a buzzword? The entire OP looked like buzz to me, truth be told. Is anti-Semitism bad? Sure, duh. Is it occasionally necessary to politically ally with people who have some bad beliefs, if their other beliefs roughly align with your own? Sure, duh. Should we be concerned if it’s starting to look like the people who made those alliances to get elected start to put those bad beliefs into policy? Yes, absolutely. I don’t see many elected Democrats pushing for anti-Semitic laws, though I’m sure there a few somewhere. How much condemnation of Farrakhan would satisfy you? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-and-farrakhan/810237.md?page=2)