Two hate groups came to the city of Charlotte. Both are officially listed as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both have long records of asserting that the world would be better off were it not for the existence and actions of a particular race of people. Both spew rhetoric remarkably similar to that used by Adolf Hitler to describe what he considered to be evil or inferior races of people.
Both deserve the condemnation of people everywhere, but the reception both groups got when they came to Charlotte was very different.
The New Century Foundation publishes American Renaissance, which argues that civilizations are stronger when they are only populated by white people. In 2005, American Renaissance publisher Jared Taylor wrote: “When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears.” In addition, the magazine’s “Introduction to Our Readers” carries this passage: “By no definition of international competitiveness can the presence of [blacks and Hispanics] be anything but a disadvantage.”
The group planned to hold a convention here. Demonstrations against them were planned and negative media coverage dogged the group. Two Charlotte City Council members pressured the hotel where the convention was supposed to be held to cancel it, and it did.
The group was warned by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police that it could be in danger if it held a public event in Charlotte because of violent threats they had become aware of, Taylor told NewsTalk 1110 WBT. As of press time, group leaders were so afraid for their safety that they didn’t announce the location of their press conference denouncing what they feel is a violation of their constitutional rights until the last minute. The whole thing will likely wind up in court.
The leaders of American Renaissance deserved everything they got. They were treated exactly as they should be by a civil society.
Enter hate group No.2. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has a long, well-documented history of anti-Semitic, homophobic and anti-white statements. He has accused Jews and their “synagogue of Satan” of being agents of the devil. He has accused Jews of orchestrating wars so they could profit; taking over banking and the Federal Reserve so they can control and steal people’s money; causing the current financial crisis; and controlling Hollywood so they can corrupt American culture. Farrakhan routinely professes a change of heart only to continue making similar statements.
Despite this, Farrakhan was presented with a key to the city of Charlotte in 1990, the city’s highest honor. The policy on keys was eventually changed after Charlotte City Council member Hoyle Martin bestowed the honor on Farrakhan, but the denouncement of Farrakhan receiving the honor wasn’t particularly loud.
I found four visits by Farrakhan to the city since 1990 for rallies and speeches in Lexis-Nexis archives. He was taken pretty seriously by the media here, especially in the mid-1990s, when he was organizing and promoting the Million Man March. Each of his gatherings, including one in 2006, was given significant and largely positive coverage by The Charlotte Observer, with fleeting references to Jewish leaders’ issues with him.
Farrakhan routinely drew crowds of 4,000 here, according to news reports. The American Renaissance conference expected about 150.
For much of the last decade, we’ve been told that even the slightest political incivility can incite a madman to go on a murderous shooting rampage for which the politically uncivil could then be held socially responsible. Meanwhile, hate crimes against Jews have surged in recent years, far outpacing hate crimes against any other religious group, yet no one here held Farrakhan responsible.
Why has Farrakhan gotten so many passes? Hate is hate, plain and simple. Who is slinging it shouldn’t matter. If hotel managers here are remotely sensitive to the suffering Jews endured during the last century, they’ll slam their doors in Farrakhan’s face the next time he visits.
A significant part of what drives racial and religious animosity in our society today isn’t actual tension between groups because of their differences, but resentment over different sets of societal rules and tolerance levels for the same brand of hate depending on who is slinging it.
This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2011.
Tara cannot possibly be this stupid? The Nation of Islam is listed as a hate group by the Jewish Southern Poverty Law Center. Check out their hate map http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map. Farrakhan doesn’t get a pass. Whites and the media hate him and demonize him. They look past Billy Graham’s anti-Semitic comments on tape with President Nixon but never forget or forgive anything Farrakhan may have done or said in the past that he may have changed his opinion on.
I think these Confederate groups have the right to free speech. The problem is that they always have extremists in the group that want to commit genocide out of fear of being annihilated genetically themselves from race-mixing. The thing is whites do it to themselves. Even when many whites are racist they still like having sex with people outside of their race. I guess hate is an aphrodisiac. The Black Panthers used to date white women too so there must be something to it.
If rednecks want to separate then as a black man I am all for that as long as they do not impede blacks from doing the same thing. The problem is rednecks want to kill people of color, not just exist separate from us. They practice offense instead of defense. This country still owes us reparations and the interest of the debt is climbing but it doesn’t owe whites anything. Whites already have everything, at least until the Jewish media poisoned your minds, Jewish feminism destroyed your families and then whites starting venting on people of color instead of the Ashkhenazi Jews that stole it from you right in front of your face. Now you cannot even say the word Jew in your own country without jeopardizing your livelihood or getting a visit from the SBI.
The race problem will never be solved because whites feel like they are entitled to a greater share of the earth’ resources because they are in charge of the technological weaponry to force people of color and other poorer white nations to comply. It’s wrong but as long as the American dwindling middle class can maintain its bloated standard of living we don’t care about anyone else or even ourselves for that matter.
We should separate but the federal government won’t let us. It’s too bad that we tremble in fear at their pronouncements. We could have been a free country until we let Israel take over. They’ve done the same thing in 124 countries in recorded history. Why did we think the Ashkhenazis would behave any differently once they had infested America? They even admit themselves to be parasites so you cannot call me an anti-Semite for saying it. Besides they are not even Semitic people. Black Hebrews are Semites. These people are from western Europe. That’s why they speak Yiddish. And yes they are obsessed with money because it is their God and hence ours as well.
When did The American Renaissance magazine become a religion? Despite how much hate rhetoric Farrakhan spouts, or used to spout, he is the leader of an organized religion here in America. I’m no fan of Farrakhan, but I have to acknowledge that ever since the organizing of the Million Man March, he has toned down his anti-white people hate rhetoric and has adopted a broader love every person in Islam approach.
I’m surprised you didn’t single out the 700 club’s Pat Robertson or maybe Charlotte’s glorious poster boy, Billy Graham. They both continually speak on intolerance issues, especially surrounding those that are Gay and/or of non Christian faiths, and from what I can tell, own a key to the state, not just the city of Charlotte.
Tara,
I’ve read some of the comments left by people regarding your latest article “Double standard.” I quite frankly don’t care whether or not your facts check out about the racist crackpot Louis Farrakhan, nor do I care what articles you choose to write. On this occasion, however, I have to caution you from making remarks that may in fact negate the very things you seem to be fighting for. I was casually reading the article until I came across the following paragraph, which immediately preceded a very careful and serious re-reading of it:
“The leaders of American Renaissance deserved everything they got. They were treated exactly as they should be in a civil society.”
May I remind you that Socrates discussed this ‘civility’ in terms of the dialectic, a term I hope I don’t have to define for a journalist. Bear in mind that every time you attempt to silence the free speech of another person you are denying yourself the right to be heard. As Rosa Luxembourg put it “the freedom of speech means nothing unless it means the freedom of the person who thinks differently.” While the two City Council members you referred to are accountable, and will be dealt with for this violation, it is you and as you say ‘civil society’ that can be and are in this case, the most threatening to this most basic freedom. A freedom that you as a journalist can be expected to be more thoughtful about its real meaning.
Now, your final paragraph, which I won’t quote because I can’t allow myself to even type those words, betrays a vast ignorance about the origins of anti-semitic rhetoric, and of the cult of Farrakhan. The origin is plain and simple and Farrakhan, with a chilling speech delivered to well over a thousand people put it bluntly: “and remember Jews, when God puts you in the ovens, it’s forever.” I hope I’ve impressed upon you that there is absolutely no relationship between how society responds to the ‘same brand of hate depending on who is slinging it.’ Two points: One, I wish you would be more careful about your words – ‘slinging hate’ makes it sound like they either don’t believe it or are slinging it just because. Second, look no further than the Bible and the Qur’an for the license for slavery, anti-semitism, and fascistic principles. How dare you link tolerance levels in society with the person saying it while simultaneously performing the exact same action these people are performing: praising the removal of a group of people. The irony is deafening, but will not be met with silence as long as I am around. You should be ashamed of yourself as a journalist, as an american citizen, and as a human being.
Tara,
I’ve read some of the comments left by people regarding your latest article “Double standard.” I quite frankly don’t care whether or not your facts check out about the racist crackpot Louis Farrakhan, nor do I care what articles you choose to write. On this occasion, however, I have to caution you from making remarks that may in fact negate the very things you seem to be fighting for. I was casually reading the article until I came across the following paragraph, which immediately preceded a very careful and serious re-reading of it:
“The leaders of American Renaissance deserved everything they got. They were treated exactly as they should be in a civil society.”
May I remind you that Socrates discussed this ‘civility’ in terms of the dialectic, a term I hope I don’t have to define for a journalist. Bear in mind that every time you attempt to silence the free speech of another person you are denying yourself the right to be heard. As Rosa Luxembourg put it “the freedom of speech means nothing unless it means the freedom of the person who thinks differently.” While the two City Council members you referred to are accountable, and will be dealt with for this violation, it is you and as you say ‘civil society’ that can be and are in this case, the most threatening to this most basic freedom. A freedom that you as a journalist can be expected to be more thoughtful about its real meaning.
Now, your final paragraph, which I won’t quote because I can’t allow myself to even type those words, betrays a vast ignorance about the origins of anti-semitic rhetoric, and of the cult of Farrakhan. The origin is plain and simple and Farrakhan, with a chilling speech delivered to well over a thousand people put it bluntly: “and remember Jews, when God puts you in the ovens, it’s forever.” I hope I’ve impressed upon you that there is absolutely no relationship between how society responds to the ‘same brand of hate depending on who is slinging it.’ Two points: One, I wish you would be more careful about your words – ‘slinging hate’ makes it sound like they either don’t believe it or are slinging it just because. Second, look no further than the Bible and the Qur’an for the license for slavery, anti-semitism, and fascistic principles. How dare you link tolerance levels in society with the person saying it while simultaneously performing the exact same action these people are performing: praising the removal of a group of people. The irony is deafening, but will not be met with silence as long as I am around. You should be ashamed of yourself as a journalist, as an american citizen, and as a human being.