Biography

Louis Farrakhan – Southern Poverty Law Center

Who is louis farrakhan

Farrakhan blames the Jews for the slave trade, plantation slavery, the Jim Crow, sharecropping, and the general oppression of blacks. Farrakhan’s tone became more belligerent in June 2010, when he sent letters to various Jewish community leaders, as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center, demanding that they acknowledge the wrongs they had perpetrated and work to further the goals from farrakhan. the letter ended with a threat to “ruin and destroy his power and influence here and throughout the world” if its terms were not met.

in their own words

“The Jews, a small handful, control the movement of this great nation, as a radar controls the movement of a great ship in the waters. … the Jews dominated Congress.” -Louis Farrakhan, Saviors Day Speech, Chicago, February 25, 1990

“and do with me what is written, but remember that I warned you that allah will punish you. you are evil deceivers of the american people. you have sucked their blood. you are not true Jews, those of you who are not true Jews. You are the synagogue of satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the usa. government, and you are cheating and sending this nation to hell. but i warn you in the name of allah, you would do well to leave me alone. but if you choose to crucify me, know that allah will crucify you.” -Louis Farrakhan, Saviors Day Speech, Chicago, Feb. January 25, 1996

“and the christian right, with their blindness to that evil state of israel…maybe that’s the holy land, and they have gay parades, and they want to allow a gay parade in jerusalem when no prophet sanctioned that behavior. how can it be israel, how can it be jerusalem with secular people running the holy land when it should be the holy people running the holy land? that land will be cleansed with blood!” -louis farrakhan, saviors day speech, chicago, feb 26, 2006

“we can now present to our people and to the world a true and undeniable record of the relationship between blacks and Jews from their own mouths and pens. These scholars, rabbis, and historians [that nation of Islamic researchers they studied] have given us an undeniable record of Jewish anti-black behavior, beginning with the horror of the transatlantic slave trade, plantation slavery, Jim Crow, the sharecropping, the labor movement of the north and the south, the unions and the misuse of our people that continues until this very moment”. -letter sent by louis farrakhan to jewish leaders and southern poverty law center, june 24, 2010

“osama bin laden did not destroy the twin towers. That was a false flag operation to divert the world’s attention from the great disunity in America after George W. Bush stole the election.” -louis farrakhan on final call, March 15, 2016

“I am not an anti-Semite. I am anti-termites”. -oct. January 16, 2018, tweet from louis farrakhan (@louisfarrakhan).

“Institutionalized pedophilia and sexual perversion in the Hollywood and entertainment industries can be traced back to Talmudic principles and Jewish influence. not Jewish influence, satanic influence under the name of Jew.” -Louis Farrakhan, Saviors Day Speech, Chicago, Feb. 17, 2019

background

Minister Louis Abdul-Haleem Farrakhan Muhammad Sr., better known simply as Louis Farrakhan, was born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11, 1933, in New York City. Farrakhan was a gifted high school student, but he dropped out of college in the summer of 1953 to care for his wife during a difficult pregnancy. Until that time, Farrakhan had a musical career that he began in his teens when he played violin in the Boston area symphonies. Farrakhan later recorded several calypso albums under the name “the charmer” and also performed live as a cabaret singer and dancer.

Farrakhan’s singing career was left behind after she heard Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), speak in Chicago in February 1955. Shortly thereafter, she became a member of Temple #7 in harlem, where malcolm x was in charge. farrakhan rose rapidly within noi and in 1957 became the minister of boston temple #11.

The nation of Islam has a black separatist agenda: its program states that blacks should be able to form their own nation. it also holds that black people should be exempt from tax until they have achieved equal justice under the law and that interracial marriage and “mixing of races” should be “prohibited.” these views are based on religious precepts created by elijah muhammad and preached by farrakhan.

Ideologically, noi is very different from conventional Islam. their “theology” – or more appropriately, their mythology – holds that the original humans were black, and that god, who is a black man, created them. the whites were not created by god but by the evil black scientist yakub. Yakub used eugenics to create white people, killing many black babies to do so. Due to the process by which Yakub created the white race, white people are inherently deceitful and murderous. Given these views, it’s no surprise that whites are banned from noi.

Other unique traits found in noi ideology include a belief in extraterrestrial life forms and UFOs. Farrakhan has written on the subject in “America’s Divine Destruction: Can She Prevent It?”, where she refers to UFOs as “mother wheels.” Farrakhan claims that they were very expensive to create and that the “original scientists” built them in Japan. On March 30, 2011, Farrakhan warned that the recent uprisings in the Arab world, coupled with the tsunami in Japan, meant that the divine spaceships waiting to avenge black suffering would arrive soon, adding that the decision of the ” brother barack” to support rebels opposed to libyan dictator moammar qaddafi, whom farrakhan considers a personal friend and ally, would serve to hasten the arrival of UFOs.

when malcolm x left noi to become a sunni muslim in march 1964, noi leaders strongly condemned him. In December 1964, Farrakhan wrote in Noi Muhammad Speaks: “The die is in, and Malcolm will not escape, especially after that evil nonsense about his benefactor Elijah Muhammad of him. …a man like malcolm is worthy of death and would have met death had it not been for muhammad’s trust in allah for victory over his enemies.” two months later, noi members murdered malcolm x; the role, if any, of the noi leadership in planning the assassinations remains undetermined. However, the violent tone with which Farrakhan and other Noi leaders condemned Malcolm X may have encouraged his assassins to assassinate him.

three months after the death of malcolm x, farrakhan became the minister of temple #7 in new york. in 1967, he became the “national spokesman” for noi. Farrakhan’s history of public antisemitism began during his tenure as spokesperson. In April 1972, he claimed that the Jews were “in control of the mass media,” and in June 1974, 70,000 people turned up in New York to hear him speak.

when elijah muhammad died on feb. on january 25, 1975, his son, warith muhammad, succeeded him as leader of noi. Warith was significantly less popular and less gifted at oratory than Farrakhan. Worried about being outshone by Farrakhan, Warith transferred him to Chicago and put him in charge of an unpromising temple located in a poor section on the city’s west side. As a leader, Warith worked to make the noi more mainstream and began allowing non-blacks to become members. In November 1976, he changed the name of the group to “World Community of Al-Islam in the West.” the move away from black separatist principles irritated many noi members, including farrakhan.

farrakhan thought that warith was abandoning the principles that elijah muhammad had instilled in noi. Farrakhan, not wanting to provoke Warith or be accused of splitting the movement, kept a relatively low profile as he struggled to accept the reformed teachings of Warith’s new group. then, in nov. on january 8, 1977, farrakhan announced that he would reestablish the nation of islam in accordance with the principles of elijah muhammad. His group grew very quickly: In 1981, Farrakhan drew thousands of people to his first annual Savior’s Day speech.

over the years, farrakhan strove to gain legitimacy as elijah muhammad’s rightful heir. In 1986 he bought Muhammad’s former home in Chicago, and then in 1988 he bought Mosque #2, the flagship mosque owned by the former Islamic nation of Warith Muhammad. Over time, Farrakhan’s noi would grow to eclipse Warith’s organization in terms of membership.

farrakhan routinely uses his popularity to rant against jews. In July 1985, he spoke to an audience of 10,000 at the Washington, DC Convention Center. he told the audience, “the Jews know their evil, not just Zionism, which is a consequence of Jewish transgression.” In September of that year, Farrakhan spoke at Morgan State University in Baltimore. In his speech he attacked Israel and Zionist Jews. He explained that Israel had not found peace since its creation because:

[[bq]]There can never be peace built on injustice, stealing, lying, deceit and using the name of god to protect their dirty religion. … you can’t tell me that your religion is the one you profess; your religion is what you practice, and if you practice lying, stealing, cheating, murdering, and selling gossip, then your religion is a dirty religion.[[bq]]

farrakhan believes in the false theory that jews were largely responsible for the slave trade in the united states. this is based on his perception of Jews as perpetual exploiters of blacks. As Farrakhan said in a March 1985 speech at a Chicago church:

[[bq]]the owners of the slave ships were Jewish. They were then the owners of the distribution channels. from that day we had a relationship. you and they own the house, you clean it. they own the property, you rent it. they have the store, you buy from them. …it’s been a master-slave relationship.[[bq]]

farrakhan tried to find support for his bigotry when he asked the noi’s “historical research department” to investigate the involvement of Jews in the slave trade. The result was the book “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews,” which was published by NOI in 1991. The book describes incidents in which Jews traded or owned slaves in the United States, and lists Jews who fought in the United States. confederate army. however, it fails to compare the number of Jews who did these things to the number of non-Jews who were involved in these practices, completely failing to demonstrate a disproportionate level of anti-black Jewish activity. Eugene Genovese, a late American scholar who was an expert on slavery, said of the book that “the absurdity of his claims to scholarship is only surpassed by the sheer cruelty of him.”

Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism has earned him some strange allies. Tom Metzger, a former white Aryan resistance and Klan leader, was so impressed with Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic bombast that he donated $100 to NOI after attending a Farrakhan rally in Los Angeles in September 1985. Since white supremacists share Noi’s belief in the separation of the races, a month later, Metzger and about 200 other white supremacists from the United States and Canada gathered at a farm about 50 miles west of Detroit, where they pledged their support for the Nation of Islam.

antisemitism is just one of farrakhan’s many biases. over the years, comments of him have consistently been rabidly anti-gay. “God doesn’t like men to approach men with lust in their hearts like you should approach a woman,” he told a Kansas City crowd in 1996. “If you think the kingdom of God is going to fill with that kind of degenerate shit, you’re crazy.”

farrakhan also helped organize the million man march, which took place in washington, d.c., on october 1. On January 16, 1995, his planning was controversial: some were lukewarm to the idea of ​​implicitly endorsing Farrakhan by supporting a march at which he would be the keynote speaker. however, approximately 800,000 people attended.

shortly after the march, in 1998, farrakhan was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While battling the disease, Farrakhan announced that he was moderating his views and turning to orthodox Islam. it was a false promise. he continued his attacks on jews and lgbtq people and continued to work with other extremist organizations. For example, in February 2005, Farrakhan announced that the new Chairman of the Black Panther Party, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a former NOI official, would call for the Millions More March, a planned rally to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Black Panther March. million men. shabazz was responsible for organizing a launch event the night before the march, in which he promoted the book “the synagogue of satan”, an antisemitic tirade. shabazz has a long history of making antisemitic comments. At a 2002 protest at the b’nai b’rith headquarters building in washington, d.c., shabazz said, “kill all the fucking zionists in israel! damn babies, damn old ladies! blow up the Zionist supermarkets!”

On June 24, 2010, Farrakhan wrote a letter to Anti-Defamation League President Abraham Foxman, calling for “sensible and intelligent dialogue” about alleged Jewish responsibility for injustices against black people. he sent copies of the letter to leaders of prominent Jewish organizations and to the southern poverty law center. Using the classic stereotype of the “cheating” Jew, Farrakhan wrote: “We could accuse him of being the most deceitful so-called friend, while his track record with us shows that he has been our worst enemy.” farrakhan closed the letter with a threat, declaring: “however, if you choose to make our fight to civilize our people more difficult… allah (god) and his messiah will lead you and your people to disgrace and ruin and they will destroy your power and influence. Here and all over the world”. Foxman called the request “outrageous and false.”

Speaking in Atlanta on June 26, 2010, Farrakhan repeated the allegations in his letter to Foxman and promoted the second volume of “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews.” In a July 13, 2010 guest editorial in the Nation of Islam newspaper, The Final Call, Malik Zulu Shabazz praised Farrakhan for his speech and his letter to Foxman. shabazz wrote: “I know firsthand about the pressure and vicious attack power of the Zionist power structure. …farrakhan’s historic speech also expands and opens a new front in the fight against Zionism.” The fact that the letter was published in the NOI newspaper suggests that Farrakhan has not chosen to distance himself from Shabazz and his hateful views.

In March 2011, Farrakhan took up the cause of his then-close friend and sometime financier, longtime Libyan tyrant Moammar Qaddafi. Libya was at the time in the midst of a violent uprising against Gaddafi and was being bombed by NATO due to the regime’s attacks on civilians. Farrakhan told a civil rights conference at Jackson State University that Qaddafi had played the role of a forceful father in post-colonial Libya. “When you come out of a colonial past where you have lost the value of your self-interest, God raises up someone from among you who can instill in you the value of yourself again and that person dictates the way until you have grown in your self-interest,” he said. farrakhan on gadafi, according to the associated press.

the noi had some stakes of its own regarding Qaddafi: In a September 2009 editorial on the final call, Farrakhan stated that Qaddafi in 1971 gave the Noi a $3 million loan to buy a Greek Orthodox church in Chicago which became the headquarters of his organization. Farrakhan also acknowledged a $5 million gift (originally a loan that was forgiven) from Qaddafi for “economic development” provided on an unspecified date after Farrakhan took control of Noi, presumably after November 1977. Qaddafi, to through the so-called islamic society of libya (described by farrakhan as the “religious arm of libya”), he sponsored two “world friendship tours” of noi, including visits to more than 40 countries, farrakhan wrote.

In Jackson’s state of affairs address, Farrakhan also claimed that President Obama had backed down from pushing for a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal and banning settlement construction in the West Bank because he is “the first Jewish president.” farrakhan, according to the associated press, said: “he was selected before he was chosen. and the people who selected it were wealthy and powerful members of the Jewish community.”

in 2011, farrakhan began making unusually conciliatory racial statements, in the context of a growing alliance between noi and the church of scientology. “all white people should flock to [the founder of Scientology] l. Ron Hubbard,” Farrakhan said. “you can still be a Christian; You just won’t be a devilish Christian. You may still be a Jew, but you will not be a satanic Jew.” His comments were part of a larger effort to encourage NOI members to adopt Scientology practices. this, says farrakhan, will help them prepare for the end of time.

in early 2016, farrakhan traveled to iran and participated in the 37th anniversary of the iranian revolution. Farrakhan and his delegation reportedly met with various diplomats and political figures while attending the celebration. During a press conference, Farrakhan returned to the anti-Semitic conspiracy claims he so often discusses. “Every time the United States wants to destroy a nation, a people, it must first demonize them, and the Zionist-controlled media in the United States has chosen to demonize Iran,” he said.

farrakhan made his first appearance in alex jones’s infowars that same year. The interview came after Farrakhan posted a video on Twitter where he briefly mentions Jones’ views on federal gun control. the two proceeded to agree on a number of key issues, including their distrust of the democratic system and the federal government. just days after trump won the presidency, farrakhan spoke to his supporters and assured them that trump’s presidential victory was the opening they needed to make other black people realize it was time to break away from “white america.” . farrakhan saw trump’s rhetoric as a much-needed push the black community needed to rally behind his movement, stating, “my message to trump: push him real hard, push him so black people will say, ‘i’m outta here.’ I can not take it anymore'”. In March, Farrakhan praised Trump for “standing up in front of the Jewish community and saying ‘I don’t want your money,'” reiterating his belief that Jews are actively seeking ways to control the federal government.

farrakhan wasted no time in criticizing the us. at his 2017 saviors day event in which he called out to the usa. uu. “the most rotten nation on earth”. Farrakhan’s comment came after he recalled watching an interview between Donald Trump and Bill O’Reilly in a pre-Super Bowl segment in which O’Reilly accused Vladimir Putin of being a “murderer.” trump replied: “there are many murderers. Do you think our country is so innocent? Farrakhan argued that the trial was not about Russia, but about the United States, which was on God’s “list to be destroyed.” Farrakhan would later call Trump an “anomaly” but praised him for his “transparency” regarding his non-presidential behavior.

In November of that same year, at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., Farrakhan reinforced claims he had made in the past about a number of anti-government conspiracy theories. he brought up the idea that 9/11 was an inside job, calling it “a false flag operation.” According to Farrakhan, the 9/11 attack was orchestrated by the US. uu. government in an effort to unite everyone after the divisive 2000 presidential race between Al Gore and George W. bush.

in the same speech, farrakhan detailed a conversation elijah muhammad said he had with former president ronald reagan. according to farrakhan, muhammad outlined detailed us plans. government to wage war against “black youth in particular, and the nation of Islam.” farrakhan told his followers that this master plan has been carried out by the last six ex-americans. presidents with the intention of killing all blacks.

reiterated conspiracies by farrakhan in d.c. include the idea that the black population is being attacked with chemically altered marijuana to assault the brain of the black man. claims that the food and water consumed by the black population have been tampered with in an effort to lower sperm counts in black men, and that government scientists have unleashed homosexuality on the black population as a form of castration.

during the 2017 saviors day event, farrakhan warned his followers that “the army is coming” and “they come with the intent to slaughter us”. According to his most recent claims, the government is planning a war with the Muslim population abroad, the blacks in the US. uu. and the nation of Islam. conspiracies targeting the black community have become a major selling point for the noi, and farrakhan credits his organization as the only thing standing between the general population of Muslim men and the government’s plan to demasculinize them .

in february 2018, farrakhan made headlines again when, in his saviors day speech, he took aim at adversaries and said, “the government is my enemy, powerful jews are my enemy and black dead Fear is my enemy, and weak Muslims and hypocrites are my enemy, but here I am, unfazed by a government that wants my life!”

farrakhan has become the scapegoat for many far-right figures in his attempt to prove that social media platforms have double standards when enforcing hate speech guidelines. farrakhan remains active on both facebook and twitter, despite numerous extremists being removed from social media platforms in 2018. the jewish community in a now infamous tweet that read: “so when they (jews) talk about farrakhan , call me a hater, you know what they do, call me an anti-semite. Enough, I’m anti-termites.”

Controversial tweets weren’t the only setback for the 85-year-old last year. In July, the film “The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan: My Life’s Journey Through Music” was removed from a list of shows expected to premiere on Netflix. The film, a documentary based on Farrakhan’s musical talents, caused a stir among many Netflix subscribers. Customers took to social media to complain and demand clarification from the streaming service for providing a platform to the noi leader. Farrakhan was not made aware of the removal until Netflix released a statement citing “internal miscommunications” as the reason for the film’s appearance on the upcoming schedule. the service clarified that farrakhan’s documentary would not be picked up and was never intended to be made available on the platform.

in november 2018, farrakhan made a huge mistake by making multiple offensive statements in a speech at tehran university in iran. Farrakhan first used the phrase “death to Iran” in Farsi. then he asked the crowd if he was saying it right. the audience responded by giving him the pronunciation of “death to america”, which farrakhan parroted back to them.

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