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Why Farrakhan Is Incendiary but No Trump

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Nation of Islam Leader’s Rhetoric Called Out

Journalists of Color Warned Everyone About Trump

Anti-Media Attitudes Affecting Local Journalists

Al Roker Denounces Blacks Appearing in Whiteface

Networks Said to Ignore Voter Suppression

PR Industry Takes Steps to Boost Diversity

Fox Guest Blames Migrants for Wiped-Out Disease

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Minister Louis Farrakhan is flanked by images of Nation of Islam figures Elijah Muhammad, left, and founder W.D. Fard. (Credit: Final Call)

Nation of Islam Leader’s Rhetoric Called Out

In the rush to appear “fair” and not to lay all the blame for today’s poisoned and polarized political atmosphere at the feet of President Trump, some journalists have pointed to Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam as evidence that anti-Semitism comes from the left as well as the right, though the Nation’s emphasis on separatism and self-reliance makes it an unlikely part of the “left.”

Consider this exchange on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. It came after a week of numbing tragedy and near-tragedy: the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday that left 11 dead; the mailing of undetonated pipe bombs to former CIA director John Brennan, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, among others; and the slaying of two black grandparents by a white gunman Wednesday at a Kroger supermarket in a suburb of Louisville, Ky.

Host Jake Tapper said to Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: “All the hate that we’ve seen in terms of the three incidents we’ve talked about this week were from the right, far, far right. But Jonathan, you know, that there’s anti-Semitism and bigotry on the left as well. And we see it, and I’m not equating the two, and the moral equivalence police out there, I’m not saying it’s the same thing. But Lou Farrakhan is out there calling Jews termites and preaching hatred, and he is somebody who recently was on stage with several former presidents at a funeral.”

WEISMAN: “That was shocking. I mean, I — I go around the country talking about this. And I talk about Louis Farrakhan as bigoted and as horrific as anything you would see. What comes out of his mouth is as awful as anything you would hear coming out of David Duke’s mouth.”

TAPPER: “It’s pretty much the same. Yes.”

WEISMAN: “It’s pretty much the same. But I’d like to say look, Farrakhan’s power kind of peaked in 1995 with the Million [Man] March and has gone downhill.

“State of the Union” panel: From left; CNN political commentators David Urban, Nina Turner, Jonathan Weisman and Amanda Carpenter with host Jake Tapper.(Credit: Screen grab)

“That line that I’ve used was so undermined by that image at Aretha Franklin’s funeral of Bill Clinton sitting next to Louis Farrakhan. It made me sick. It really did. And I think that look, the left needs to be speaking out as forthrightly as the right. No question, no question.”

TAPPER: “Again I’m not saying it’s the same thing, but — I’m not saying it’s the same thing but how — why would we tolerate it on either side? . . .”

In an Oct. 14 speech in Detroit, Farrakhan said, “When they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me an anti-Semite; stop it I’m anti-termite.

“I don’t know anything about hating anyone because of their religious preference. But just like they called our ancestors in the 1930s ‘voodoo people,’ they figure ‘anti-Semite’ would be a good thing to put on us. . . .

“You cannot find one Jew that one who follows me has plucked one hair from his head. You haven’t found us defiling a synagogue. Our Qur’an teaches us if we see something like that stop it. . . .”

In an Aug. 21 tribute to Franklin, Farrakhan explained why he might have been asked to sit on that stage.

“In 1972, when I was minister in New York City, Temple No. 7, the police attacked our mosque. Within a few hours, Aretha Franklin came to the mosque, to my office, and said that she saw the news and came as quickly as she could to stand with us and offer us her support. She asked me if Rev. Jesse Jackson had been there to show support. I said, not yet. She said, he’ll be here within 48 hours. Rev. Jackson came and stood with the Muslims.

“We marveled at her show of courage, fearlessness which was rooted in her profound love for her people and her desire for justice for us. Her activism, her selflessness caused her to stand with Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement as she joined the struggle of our people for liberty, equity and justice. . . .”

The presence of Farrakhan on that stage was enough to cause revulsion from Weisman and others, such as Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen.

But it was the incendiary “anti-termite” line that prompted Facebook to remove a video clip of the Oct. 14 speech for violating Facebook’s terms of service. Twitter let the clip remain, saying that its proposed new policies around “dehumanizing” tweets had not yet gone into effect.

The reference was also cited by Jewish leaders and some commentators in the wake of the synagogue massacre.

Those commentators might be surprised by how two African Americans who have followed Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam saw his comments.

Amy L. Alexander, who two decades ago edited an anthology called “The Farrakhan Factor: African-American Writers on Leadership, Nationhood, and Minister Louis Farrakhan,” featuring 15 black “thought leaders,” told Journal-isms by email Tuesday, “Minister Farrakhan has voiced anti-Semitic rhetoric for nearly a half-century. It is odious and unacceptable — but should by now be completely expected.

“The only difference now is that social media platforms such as YouTube and Twitter are bringing Farrakhan’s words forward faster and sending them to potentially larger audiences than in past.

“His actual ‘influence’ on audiences however is nil, quite unlike the way that language from the 45th United States president activates some people. Where Trump’s racist and [anti-Semitic] rhetoric literally inspires his Cult followers to take up arms and kill or attempt to kill people, Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic ramblings only succeed in riling up some folks (including journalists) who vastly over-estimate his impact.

“At the same time, I do think that Twitter should ban Farrakhan if he makes obvious threats — much as it should sanction 45 when he hurls insults and threats. That Twitter can’t define or stick to its own rules contributes to our current anxious atmosphere of Americans ‘debating’ what constitutes hate speech.

“Farrakhan’s [anti-Semitism] is certainly toxic, but it’s a long-running schtick that now pales next to 45’s. It’d be great to not have any public figure use such hate speech but let’s keep perspective, and avoid making false equivalency: Farrakhan is not remotely as dangerous as 45 is.”

Karl Evanzz, author of several books on black Muslims, including his latest, a revised version of “The Judas Factor: The Life and Death of Malcolm Shabazz,” messaged about Farrakhan, “I try to ignore anything he says or does. He generally says something outlandish when he needs money. It’s a ploy he’s used for decades. Since he’s never had a real job (and thus no pension or Social Security benefits), he will say something bigoted, generate a backlash, and then claim that he’s being attacked for ‘telling the truth.’ His gullible supporters then open their wallets to show their love for the Emperor with no clothes, no nation, no nothing but a big mouth.”

Journalists of Color Warned Everyone About Trump

“Jamelle Bouie tried to tell us,” Joel Mathis wrote Tuesday for The Week. “So did Nikole Hannah-Jones. Jelani Cobb spoke up, as did Vann Newkirk II, Adam Serwer, and Jenée Desmond-Harris.

Jamelle Bouie (Credit: Chris Usher/CBS)

“Back in 2016, these journalists of color all used their platforms to send a warning about the racist undertones of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. All too often these writers were dismissed as alarmists, or as race-obsessed practitioners of ‘identity politics.’ But as the events in Pittsburgh last weekend and those in Louisville last week have demonstrated, these writers were absolutely right.

“This country needs more minority journalists in its newsrooms. And we fellow Americans need to do a better job of listening to them.

“Is this really an issue? After all, the writers I’ve named here work or have worked for places like The New York Times, Slate, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic — all of them prestige publications. Most of them have widespread followings on social media. Hannah-Jones was named a MacArthur Genius in 2017.

“But you don’t have to look much beyond the surface to detect a real problem with minority representation in newsrooms. A 2017 survey showed that just one in six American newsroom employees are racial minorities — and the situation is even worse for women of color. That’s not good enough: America needs these voices. Journalists of color can and often do point out America’s blind spots.

“Paging through Bouie’s 2015 and 2016 dispatches for Slate, one is struck by their stubborn prescience, informed by a deep familiarity with this country’s history and a refusal to view that history through rose-colored glasses. . . .”

Anti-Media Attitudes Affecting Local Journalists

“The hostility she’s felt from the public recently wasn’t necessarily the last straw in television news photographer Lori Bentley-Law’s decision to quit the business after 24 years, but it was one of them,” David Bauder reported Monday for the Associated Press.

“Bentley-Law’s recent blog post explaining why she was leaving Los Angeles’ KNBC-TV hit home for many colleagues. While President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media are usually centered on national outlets like CNN and The New York Times, the attitudes unleashed have filtered down to journalists on the street covering news in local communities across the country.

“When a president describes the press as enemies of the people, ‘attitudes shift and the field crews get the brunt of the abuse,’ she wrote. ‘And it’s not just from one side. We get it all the way around, pretty much on a daily basis.’

“The Radio Television Digital News Association is spreading safety and self-defense tips to journalists, most notably advising limits on the use of one-person news crews. The RTDNA has begun compiling anti-press incidents, like last week when an intruder was shot after kicking down glass doors at Fox’s local station in Washington. The National Press Photographers Association is developing workshops to spread safety advice to its members.

“ ‘The environment has changed,’ said Chris Post, a photographer for WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ‘I’ve witnessed the transition.’ . . .”

Lester Holt as Susan Boyle (Twitter)

Al Roker Denounces Blacks Appearing in Whiteface

“Longtime Today anchor Al Roker has denounced whiteface amid the recent conversations stemming from Megyn Kelly’s blackface comments, and singled out Marlon and Shawn Wayans’ 2004 film White Chicks in which the two actors appear in whiteface as two undercover FBI agents posing as Caucasian women,” Patrick Shanley wrote Monday for the Hollywood Reporter.

” ‘Dude, didn’t see that movie. But let me jump in the DeLorean with Doc Brown and travel to 2004 to denounce it,’ Roker said in a tweet responding to a user who posted a picture of the Wayans brothers in the film and asked if NBC News, fellow Today anchor Craig Melvin and Roker thought whiteface was okay.

“Roker’s response comes in the wake of Kelly’s much-publicized exit from Today after making comments about blackface on the show last week.

“Critics on both sides have taken issue with Kelly’s remarks, in which she said, ‘What is racist? Because truly you do get in trouble if you are a white
person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character.’ She later apologized for her statements. . . .”

Separately, Caleb Howe of Mediaite published a photo Monday of “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt dressed as British pop singer and YouTube sensation Susan Boyle in a wig and dress but with his face painted white, and another of NBC’s Hoda Kotb dressed as Blake Shelton, standing with the actual Blake Shelton.

However, Howe added, “No one should confuse the context, though. It is that context that doomed Kelly’s segment. Because there is a difference.

“Blackface has a long racist past in the United States. Blackface goes back to ‘minstrel shows’, which were cruel, mocking, paternalistic shows where white people would slather grease on their face in a grotesque caricature and act out terrible stereotypes for the amusement of white crowds. . . .”

Networks Said to Ignore Voter Suppression

“With the midterm elections a week away, and tensions building daily, a bipartisan rallying cry grows louder: People must get out and vote,” Margaret Sullivan wrote Monday for the Washington Post.

“But how possible is that, exactly, for some Americans?

“In North Dakota, thousands of Native American voters may be prevented from voting next week in a key Senate race because of an ugly technicality that amounts to targeted voter suppression.

“In Georgia, hundreds of thousands of citizens were ‘purged’ from the voting rolls in what election-law experts have called the worst disenfranchisement of voters in modern American history.

“And in Kansas — where restrictive voting laws have been championed by Secretary of State Kris Kobach — the majority-Hispanic residents of Dodge City can no longer vote in their community after its single polling place was closed.

“Yes, voter suppression is alive and well in the United States.

“But Americans who rely on the broadcast news networks for their information, and they still number in the millions every night, probably don’t know about it.

“Obsessed with all things Trump — caravan invasion, anyone? — and occupied with breaking news about hurricanes and mass shootings, the networks have almost ignored voter suppression.

“With the consequential midterm elections only a week away, the near silence is deafening. . . . .”

PR Industry Takes Steps to Boost Diversity

Acknowledging that the public relations industry has a diversity problem, leading PR associations are launching an initiative that begins with a book in which more than 40 people of color in PR describe what it’s like to be isolated and/or the objects of unconscious bias. They also offer tips and lessons for those entering the field.

Nationwide panel discussions to follow.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ethnic makeup of the PR industry in the United States is 87.9 percent white, 8.3 percent African American, 2.6 percent Asian American and 5.7 percent Hispanic.

In the 2017 survey of the American Society of News Editors, covering newspapers and online outlets, the figures were 83.16 percent white, 5.64 percent black, 5.66 percent Hispanic, .36 percent American Indian, 4.28 percent Asian, .13 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, .57 percent other and .29 percent unknown.

“Diverse Voices: Profiles in Leadership” is published by the PRSA Foundation and Museum of Public Relations and edited by Shelley and Barry Spector, founders of the museum.

Among the participating writers are Neil Foote, a former reporter at the Miami Herald, Dallas Morning News and Washington Post who is president/CEO of Foote Communications LLC, a principal lecturer at the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas and president of the National Black Public Relations Society. Another is Rochelle Tillery Larkin Ford, dean of the School of Communications at Elon University who has taught at Howard University and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

In the book, Kim L. Hunter warns, “The kids today . . . won’t join an agency unless they see that there are minorities who succeeded before them.” Hunter is founder and chairman of the LAGRANT Foundation, which provides scholarships to students of color.

The organizers say in an announcement, “In 2019, the PRSA Foundation will facilitate ‘Diverse Voices’ talks at colleges and universities, using the book’s participants as speakers when possible [PDF]. The intention is to provide diverse students with guidance to get a head start upon graduation and begin successful career trajectories in the communications field. . . .

“The book is supported by: The Public Relations Society of America, The Public Relations Student Society of America, Page, PR Council, Institute for Public Relations, The LAGRANT Foundation, The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communications, the National Black Public Relations Society, Hispanic Public Relations Association, The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, The International Communications Consultancy Organization and The Society for New Communications Research of The Conference Board, among others.”

Fox Guest Blames Migrants for Wiped-Out Disease

“As immigration opponents continue to froth over the caravan making its way from Central America toward the United States, some are floating the idea that asylum-seekers will bring disease with them — including one that was wiped out nearly 40 years ago,” Tanya Basu and Tracy Connor wrote Monday for the Daily Beast.

“The right-wing magazine The New American ran a story over the weekend headlined: ‘Will Migrant Caravan Kill Your Child—With Disease?’

“ ‘What about diseases?’ Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Monday. Later, Fox News contributor Sidney Powell suggested that the current outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) affecting children was because of migrants — prompting host Lou Dobbs to correct her on air.

“And former immigration agent David Ward, also appearing on Fox, cited a disease that doesn’t actually exist anymore.

“ ‘We have these individuals coming in from all over the world that have some of the most extreme medical care in the world,’ Ward said. ‘And they’re coming
in with diseases such as smallpox and leprosy and TB [tuberculosis] that are going to infect our people in the United States.’ . . .”

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