Photos by Mario Tama and Win McNamee/Getty Images The New York Times has come under fire running a “glowing” op-ed on Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on October 17.
The op-ed, titled “The Women Behind the Million Man March,” details how Black women gave Farrakhan advice on how to counter “critiques that the Million Man March was exclusionary and sexist” and helped register “hundreds of thousands of Black men” to vote.
Bari Weiss, who resigned from The New York Times in July, noted in an October 18 Twitter thread that the op-ed would make you “think [Farrakhan] was a gentleman” and “deferential to women.” Weiss then highlighted various anti-Semitic quotes from Farrakhan, including Farrakhan saying in 2019, “Pedophilia and sexual perversion institutionalized in Hollywood and the entertainment industries can be traced to Talmudic principles and Jewish influence. Not Jewish influence, Satanic influence under the name of Jew.”
“When The Times ran the infamous anti-Semitic cartoon [in 2019], the issue was not that editors were hardened anti-Semites,” Weiss tweeted. “It’s that they didn’t even *notice* it. This shouldn’t surprise. It’s part of a worldview in which Jew hate does not count.”
More than that. You'd think he was deferential to women: "Amid critiques that the Million Man March was exclusionary and sexist, he took the advice of the women."
Let's take a look at some of Louis Farrakahn's views.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
"Pedophilia and sexual perversion institutionalized in Hollywood and the entertainment industries can be traced to Talmudic principles and Jewish influence. Not Jewish influence, Satanic influence under the name of Jew." He said that in 2019.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
“Brother Barack, under Jewish influence, trying to introduce same-sex marriage to African people, and the Africans say, ‘We don’t have nothing like that in our history. We can’t identify with that.’ . . .
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
Then the Western man says, ‘If you want this money from the World Bank or the IMF, you have to make a law that allows same-sex marriage.’ Look, brothers and sisters, this is satanic.” He said that in 2018.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
“God did not create man to lay with man. But you are being chemically programmed against your nature, you don’t know it.” He said that in 2018.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
“God did not create man to lay with man. But you are being chemically programmed against your nature, you don’t know it.” He said that in 2018.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
Farrakhan: “I think Hillary Rodham Clinton is a part of, if you trace her lineage, she go right back to the Rothschilds. Her daughter is about to marry a Jewish young man. This is no accident.”
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
He believes 9/11 was an inside job: “Osama Bin Laden didn’t destroy the Twin Towers. That was a false flag operation to take the world’s attention away from the great disunity in America after George W. Bush stole the election.”
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
There are hundreds more like this. When The Times ran the infamous anti-Semitic cartoon, the issue was not that editors were hardened anti-Semites. It's that they didn't even *notice* it. This shouldn't surprise. It's part of a worldview in which Jew hate does not count.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 18, 2020
Jewish groups also condemned The New York Times op-ed.
“Stunned NYT ran a piece describing Louis Farrakhan in such glowing terms, ignoring his history of hate & #antisemitism,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. “Even in discussing women’s unsung role in the Million Man March, failing to mention the serial bigotry of its organizer normalizes it.”
Stunned NYT ran a piece describing Louis Farrakhan in such glowing terms, ignoring his history of hate & #antisemitism. Even in discussing women's unsung role in the Million Man March, failing to mention the serial bigotry of its organizer normalizes it. https://t.co/pE3d9QPJKr
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) October 18, 2020
Greenblatt subsequently wrote a letter to the editor to the Times pointing out that Farrakhan said in February 1995 “that it was Jews who got America into World War II and that ‘international bankers’ (code words for Jews) financed both sides of the war effort.” He also noted that in July, Farrakhan called Jews “the enemy of God” and referred to certain Jewish leaders as “Satan.”
“While Mr. Farrakhan may have created opportunities for women of color, his long and unapologetic record of hateful slurs and conspiratorial statements about Jews long ago cemented his status as a serial bigot,” Greenblatt wrote. “When this type of hatred is ignored, it normalizes such intolerance and makes it more acceptable for others to hold such dangerous views. This cannot be omitted from any honest appraisal of him.”
The American Jewish Committee also tweeted, “Bravo, @bariweiss, for your moral clarity in calling out this shocking @nytimes op-ed about the Million Man March. Louis Farrakhan is a vile antisemite and racist who preaches vitriol and hatred. His bigoted views must not be glossed over or mainstreamed.”
Bravo, @bariweiss, for your moral clarity in calling out this shocking @nytimes op-ed about the Million Man March.
Louis Farrakhan is a vile antisemite and racist who preaches vitriol and hatred. His bigoted views must not be glossed over or mainstreamed. https://t.co/dma6BL4LSZ
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) October 19, 2020
CNN’s Jake Tapper also noted in a tweet that the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) “didn’t participate in the Million Man March because Farrakhan had made comments that were ‘divisive and bigoted.’”
The late great John Lewis didn’t participate in the Million Man March because Farrakhan had made comments that were “divisive and bigoted.” https://t.co/EitiuG3H7U
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 18, 2020
The author of the op-ed, Howard University assistant professor Natalie Hopkinson, tweeted in response to criticism that she didn’t mention Farrakhan’s history of anti-Semitism, “You don’t center the marchers. You dont center the Black women who are named and linked. You dont even center Farrakhan. You center yourself and your feelings. Exactly the problem with history.”
https://twitter.com/NatHopkinson/status/1317908612086419457?s=20
In a subsequent tweet, she stated that such concerns are an example “privilege;” in another tweet, Hopkinson wrote that people “who have become white should not be lecturing Black [people] about oppression.”
https://twitter.com/NatHopkinson/status/1317923473155624962?s=20
https://twitter.com/NatHopkinson/status/1317930965726040064?s=20
Weiss tweeted that in Hopkinson’s “worldview, ‘people who have become white’ — Jews — cannot call out Farrakhan’s evil.”
An incredible statement by the author of the Farrakhan oped in today's @nytimes. It exposes what happens when universalist-morality is usurped by identity-morality. In her worldview, "people who have become white" — Jews — cannot call out Farrakhan's evil. https://t.co/TTRCCiKinI
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) October 19, 2020
The Times did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
Hopkinson said in a statement to the Journal, “The Black women whose voices I elevated in the NYT essay speak for themselves. The other tweet on the new book ‘Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent’ was not related to the essay. I suspect that is where most of the misunderstanding came from. Bigotry is our common enemy so I would like to stay focused on uniting and defeating that moving forward. This Wednesday, I will be talking about the book, not as an expert on religious identity of any kind, but as a reader grateful to learn more about the intersections between our two historically marginalized communities.”
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