THINKING FOR OURSELVES

Hard Questions

By Shea Howell

Michigan Citizen, Mar. 9-15, 2008

During the 20th Democratic primary debate Barrack Obama had an opportunity to practice a new kind of politics. Instead he backed away, evading the chance to help Americans learn something about one another across the racial divide. Like other politically ambitious candidates, he chose to pander for votes.

The moment came during Hillary Clinton’s questioning his support by Louis Farrakhan. Obama said he “denounced” the anti-Semitic views of Farrakhan. Then, pressed by Clinton, he quickly agreed that he would “reject” him as well. Within seconds he was saying, “I denounce and reject Farrakhan.”

That was a sad moment for a man who should know better and who has promised more.

If Obama is about something new in politics, he could have used the moment to say, “You know, Hillary, throughout this whole debate, you have been talking about how the press distorts your record. I agree, and here is an example of how you and the press continue to distort the record of someone who is widely respected in the African American community.

“The press would like you to believe that the name Louis Farrakhan is synonymous with anti-Semitism. It bases this claim on remarks allegedly made during Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign nearly 25 years ago. At the time Farrakhan denied that he was anti-Semitic and said the remarks were taken out of context. Over the last quarter century he has reached out to the Jewish community to establish ties. Nevertheless the press continues to label him anti Semitic for something he disputes. But it does not call Senator Robert Byrd racist for his refusal to support civil rights or William F. Buckley for his consistent opposition to the civil rights act, to integration and to federal efforts to help the poor.

“Why are these men allowed by the press to evolve, change and grow while Farrakhan is frozen in time for phrases he has consistently and persistently denied?

“And when you ask me to denounce and reject Farrakhan, are you asking that I denounce the man who was among the first to support the Reverend Jesse Jackson in his 1984 history-making run for the presidency? Are you asking me to denounce and reject the fact that he provided physical security to Jackson who had received hundreds of death threats but was denied government secret service protection? Are you asking me to denounce and reject the fact that he and Rev. Jackson went to Syria in 1984 and negotiated for the release of Navy Lieutenant Robert O. Goodman Jr. who had been shot down over Lebanon and was held hostage? Should I denounce and reject his organization of the Million Man March in 1995, one of the largest gatherings of African American men challenging our/themselves to take responsibility for our families and communities? Should I denounce and reject the Million More March in 2005 that your own husband said was ‘a very positive idea’ that would ‘focus attention on economic disparity.’ Are you asking me to denounce and reject the fact that for nearly a half century Farrakhan has been a consistent, often eloquent voice for the locked-out and locked-up of America? That he has encouraged personal transformation and social responsibility?

“No, I don’t think you are demanding that I denounce and reject these acts. Nor do I think you denounce and reject them. Behind such demands is the effort to stop you and me and the American people from having really serious public conversations about U.S. policy.”

If we are really going to heal America, it has to be by looking at hard questions and deep divisions with honesty and the fullness of truth.

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