With the breathtaking rise of Barack Obama, I am reminded of a speech delivered 24 years ago by Minister Louis Farrakhan.The Nation of Islam leader spoke at the headquarters of Operation PUSH in Chicago. PUSH founder Jesse Jackson was in the midst of his first presidential campaign.
Few white people had ever heard of Louis Farrakhan. In fact, February 1984 was the moment in history when Farrakhan would appear on the white media’s radar screen – never to leave it again.
Why? Because this was the time of Jesse Jackson’s “Hymietown” fiasco. It was in the context of that public-relations shitstorm that Farrakhan issued his “warning” to the U.S. government – and to “crazy Jewish elements” – to leave Jesse alone.
I own this speech in its entirety on a double-LP issued by the Nation of Islam way back then.
To hear a 2½-minute portion of Farrakhan’s warning, click here.
:)
ReplyDelete^ My favorite comment ever.
ReplyDeleteYou own that?! On vinyl!? Wow. Your record collection must be truly awe-inspiring.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to revisit the hymietown fiasco here because it made me wonder if Jackson was actually the first to start what is now a wide-reaching trend for racist/anti-Semitic-crap-spewing stars (Michael Richards, Mel Gibson, etc) to issue their apologies to perceived leaders (often Jackson himself) of whatever ethnic group they've publicly defamed.
The Farrakhan speech mostly stirs up the currently slumbering fear that the states are due for some serious shit if anything happens to Obama... Something tells me that, despite people's irrational prejudices about a woman as president, the crazies are chomping at the bit watching Obama's rise with world-class insanity...
ReplyDeleteI find this clip very interesting. If any thing happen to Obama, you will have killed hope in America.
ReplyDelete^ White folks might cry even more than black folks, JJ.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I heard about the Crown Heights riot for the first time yesterday (I am still in the process of getting more info about American history). So Al referred to Jews as "diamond merchants"...man, not good when the two leading black civil rights leaders of today are both known for making anti-semitic remarks.
ReplyDeleteAnd Farrakhan is a freaking nut.
Have the aliens been to visit Farrakhan lately?
ReplyDelete"Let's break down the word 'atonement'"....
... not good when the two leading black civil rights leaders of today are both known for making anti-semitic remarks.
ReplyDeleteThere is a thread of that in ghetto culture, SJ, depending on the place.
At the high school I attended in Southeast D.C., the nearby market where kids would go at lunch or after school was universally referred to as "the Jew store."
It wasn't meant pejoratively. It was just the vernacular.
There you go stirring shit up again, Dave. I feel another round of Stakes Be High in my blood.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on my intro for this week's review of The Wire, but I'm coming back to this. Stay tuned.
I didnt know you were from DC, Undercover Black Man - cool!
ReplyDeleteL
DeAngelo: I'm ready for you. Hit me with your next shot whenever.
ReplyDeleteLola: Yep, I grew up in Northeast, but attended Ballou H.S. for a couple of years... in the early days of the math-science magnet program.
Dave, I like your style, bruh.
ReplyDeleteMini-Stakes Be High, here.
I vividly recall this episode. It was the moment when I became aware of Farrakhan, too.
It was the moment I woke up from brew and weed-infested nights and days to get politically active.
Regarding tghe Hymietown thang, I recall thinking "What the fuck was Jesse doing?" More so, why did a brotha have to report that shit knowing a "shitstorm" would kick off.
I remember watching Farrakhan discuss the comment and his back-covering with Ted Koppel. I recall being very impressed with the way Farrakhan conducted himself in the face of tough questioning. He was very respectful and articulate.
But what bothers me is that period still tracks Farrakhan and Jesse to this day. And folks still get distracted by those comments as opposed to the body of work for which these men are responsible.
Recall the context, we weren't twenty years removed from the murders of King and X. The FBI with the cooperation of local police departments had systematically taken out the Black Panthers. Hell, the record companies killed soul music in favor of that disco/crossover bullshit.
The American Dream of all for one one for all that had seen so much promise in the 70s was being killed by Reagan's pre-Brown v. Board of Education revisionism.
So Farrakhan spoke up. To white power, he said, "Kill Jesse for this and we'll make the Watts Riots look like a picnic." To Black America, he was saying, "Now's the time to get behind this brotha. And if they take him out, let's make the Watts Riot look like a picnic."
There comes a time when you gotta let the bully know you ain't having it no more.
Now what's wrong with that?
Ding!
Regarding tghe Hymietown thang, I recall thinking "What the fuck was Jesse doing?"
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Hymietown thing, I can't help but think about that Eddie Murphy, SNL skit.
Sorry.
^bklyn6,
ReplyDeleteYou're on point. I almost brought that up in my post. lol!
Great linkage, Bklyn6! I haven't seen that since it first came on.
ReplyDeleteBarack Obama has exactly WHAT to do with any of this wacko garbage?
ReplyDelete