Farrakhan Again?

Russell Simmons thinks Abe Foxman of the ADL should not have the temerity to suggest black leaders distance themselves from bow-tied Jew-baiter Louis Farrakhan as the tenth anniversary of the Million Man March approaches and the Millions More Movement is being planned under Farrakhan’s aegis. Foxman should, the hip hop mogul suggests, take note of how the ADL’s response to Mel Gibson’s recent gore-fest seemed to provoke, rather than pacify, those it was intended to influence.

Hey, Russell, are you kidding?

The ironies here are too myriad to enumerate but let me confine myself to this one: what would Russell Simmons’ position be were a million Jews marching behind a rabbi who said “The blacks are leeches” (the bloodsucking metaphor is a favorite of Farrakhan’s)? Would he tell his associates to hold their fire, lest they make the Jews angry? Please.

Russell Simmons is a good guy and has worked diligently to promote dialogue between blacks and Jews. But like many in his position, he has a blind spot when it comes to Louis Farrakhan. Unless you want to talk about the Beastie Boys, the depredations faced by the black community in America today don’t have a lot to do with the Jews. To think that Farrakhan should be allowed to sing that old song without a response is perverse.

For the record, I am rooting for the Millions More Movement to be a huge success, and would like to believe it will contain the seeds of “constructive dialogue” that Russell Simmons is working to cultivate. Failing that, I hope they scare the bejesus out of any Republican left in Washington that weekend.