Minnesotans Prepare to Elect Black Muslim to Congress
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:50 pm
Well, this should be interesting . . . I think the Black Muslims have an honorable tradtion of bettering the lives of many inner city blacks held in thrall to the Democratic welfare-for-votes machine, but it can't be denied that they are highly anti-Semitic. Yep. Those Democrats really know how to pick their candidates.
Ellison letter addresses his past ties
The DFL-endorsed congressional candidate said he failed to study Louis Farrakhan's positions when he was involved with the Nation of Islam.
Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune
State Rep. Keith Ellison, the DFL endorsee in the Fifth Congressional District race, has sent a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council in an attempt to quell concerns about his connections to a group viewed by many as anti-Semitic.
Ellison said that when he had ties to the Nation of Islam for about 18 months in the mid-1990s he failed to scrutinize the positions of the group and its leader, Louis Farrakhan, and "wrongly dismissed concerns that they were anti-Semitic. I should have come to that conclusion [that they were anti-Semitic] earlier than I did. I regret that I didn't."
Ellison, who could become the first Muslim elected to Congress, noted that there has been "much speculation" about his ties to Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, an organization that is aimed at improving conditions for black people but has been criticized as being antiwhite, antigay and anti-Semitic.
Ellison wrote that he saw "in the Nation of Islam, and specifically the Million Man March [in 1995], an effort to promote African-American self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and community economic development." His relationship to Farrakhan has been raised mostly on blogs and in political scuttlebutt.
He said in an interview Friday that he wrote the letter, dated May 28, to the Community Relations Council to "reassure allies and friends of my long-term support for civil and human rights."
Ellison has at least three DFL primary opponents for the Minneapolis-centered seat: former state DFL chairman Mike Erlandson, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge and Minneapolis City Council Member Paul Ostrow.
Reichgott Junge said "questions have arisen" about Ellison but "I'm not at all putting that out there. I'm running my own campaign."
Ostrow said, "It is disappointing that it took until now for Representative Ellison to acknowledge and disown the anti-Semitism of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. When you run for federal office, you run on your record and your past."
Erlandson declined to comment.
In his letter, Ellison also addressed a matter involving Joanne Jackson, who in 1997 headed the group Minneapolis Initiative Against Racism. She had been quoted as calling Jews "among the most racist white people," and Ellison was involved with a group of black leaders who defended her.
"I believe that Ms. Jackson's alleged remark was clearly bigoted, discriminatory, inappropriate, and even ridiculous," Ellison said in the letter, adding that while some leaders defended her comments, he "spoke out in favor of increased dialogue between the Jewish and African-American communities."
Some in the Jewish community said Friday that they are willing to take Ellison at his word and his recent record in the Legislature. Others were more concerned.
Three members of the council's board, Dan Rosen, a Minneapolis lawyer; Alan Weinblatt, a DFL elections lawyer, and Jay Benanav, a St. Paul City Council member, said they have seen the letter.
"Given Ellison's public multiyear association with a vicious anti-Semitic organization, and given his past writing, I have to be skeptical of statements he makes in the context of an election campaign," Rosen said.
The other two are supportive.
Weinblatt said he listened carefully to Ellison's public speeches and met with him before deciding to support him. "I view this as an awesome opportunity for the citizens of Minneapolis ... to send somebody to Congress who has a unique background," Weinblatt said, referring to Ellison's work as a criminal-defense attorney and his Muslim faith.
Benanav, who noted that he was born in Israel to Holocaust survivors, said that he has worked with Ellison and that concerns are "not well-founded with regards to anti-Semitism, anti-Israel."
Mark Rotenberg, head of Minnesotans Against Terrorism, general counsel of the University of Minnesota and a Jewish Minneapolis resident who is supporting Reichgott Junge, said, "folks are extra-concerned about his past association with known anti-Semites, anti-whites and anti-Catholic spokesmen. There are other strong, experienced, progressive Democrats in this race who don't have that kind of heavy baggage."
Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/470928.html
Ellison letter addresses his past ties
The DFL-endorsed congressional candidate said he failed to study Louis Farrakhan's positions when he was involved with the Nation of Islam.
Rochelle Olson, Star Tribune
State Rep. Keith Ellison, the DFL endorsee in the Fifth Congressional District race, has sent a letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council in an attempt to quell concerns about his connections to a group viewed by many as anti-Semitic.
Ellison said that when he had ties to the Nation of Islam for about 18 months in the mid-1990s he failed to scrutinize the positions of the group and its leader, Louis Farrakhan, and "wrongly dismissed concerns that they were anti-Semitic. I should have come to that conclusion [that they were anti-Semitic] earlier than I did. I regret that I didn't."
Ellison, who could become the first Muslim elected to Congress, noted that there has been "much speculation" about his ties to Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, an organization that is aimed at improving conditions for black people but has been criticized as being antiwhite, antigay and anti-Semitic.
Ellison wrote that he saw "in the Nation of Islam, and specifically the Million Man March [in 1995], an effort to promote African-American self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and community economic development." His relationship to Farrakhan has been raised mostly on blogs and in political scuttlebutt.
He said in an interview Friday that he wrote the letter, dated May 28, to the Community Relations Council to "reassure allies and friends of my long-term support for civil and human rights."
Ellison has at least three DFL primary opponents for the Minneapolis-centered seat: former state DFL chairman Mike Erlandson, former state Sen. Ember Reichgott Junge and Minneapolis City Council Member Paul Ostrow.
Reichgott Junge said "questions have arisen" about Ellison but "I'm not at all putting that out there. I'm running my own campaign."
Ostrow said, "It is disappointing that it took until now for Representative Ellison to acknowledge and disown the anti-Semitism of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan. When you run for federal office, you run on your record and your past."
Erlandson declined to comment.
In his letter, Ellison also addressed a matter involving Joanne Jackson, who in 1997 headed the group Minneapolis Initiative Against Racism. She had been quoted as calling Jews "among the most racist white people," and Ellison was involved with a group of black leaders who defended her.
"I believe that Ms. Jackson's alleged remark was clearly bigoted, discriminatory, inappropriate, and even ridiculous," Ellison said in the letter, adding that while some leaders defended her comments, he "spoke out in favor of increased dialogue between the Jewish and African-American communities."
Some in the Jewish community said Friday that they are willing to take Ellison at his word and his recent record in the Legislature. Others were more concerned.
Three members of the council's board, Dan Rosen, a Minneapolis lawyer; Alan Weinblatt, a DFL elections lawyer, and Jay Benanav, a St. Paul City Council member, said they have seen the letter.
"Given Ellison's public multiyear association with a vicious anti-Semitic organization, and given his past writing, I have to be skeptical of statements he makes in the context of an election campaign," Rosen said.
The other two are supportive.
Weinblatt said he listened carefully to Ellison's public speeches and met with him before deciding to support him. "I view this as an awesome opportunity for the citizens of Minneapolis ... to send somebody to Congress who has a unique background," Weinblatt said, referring to Ellison's work as a criminal-defense attorney and his Muslim faith.
Benanav, who noted that he was born in Israel to Holocaust survivors, said that he has worked with Ellison and that concerns are "not well-founded with regards to anti-Semitism, anti-Israel."
Mark Rotenberg, head of Minnesotans Against Terrorism, general counsel of the University of Minnesota and a Jewish Minneapolis resident who is supporting Reichgott Junge, said, "folks are extra-concerned about his past association with known anti-Semites, anti-whites and anti-Catholic spokesmen. There are other strong, experienced, progressive Democrats in this race who don't have that kind of heavy baggage."
Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/470928.html
