lack Ink
Farrakhan-A Moral Leader?
Cover Story
Page 10
November 19
4/
By James Claude Benton
Contributor
Louis Farrakhan.
The name of the minister and leader
of the Nation of Islam can evoke contro
versy or reverence, depending on who
you talk to, their prior experience with
him and how the media portray him.
In his Nov. 9 speech at N.C. A&T,
Minister Farrakhan was a smash success,
judging by the reaction of the crowd in
Corbett Sports Center who witnessed his
perennial mix of controversy, condemna
tion and inspiration. But for me—after
paying for the ticket, enduring the trip
on a rainy night to Greensboro and
waiting in line to be searched by the Fruit
of Islam for weapons—I left Farrakhan’s
speech somewhat dejected.
Why? I wasn’t disappointed in his
speech per se. For all intents and pur
poses, the man is a fiery orator, inspira
tional and very dynamic; there is no
doubt he can move the crowd. What dis
appointed me, however, was the rather
thin content of several arguments he
made in his speech. At this point in our
struggle for equality, rights and power,
inspiration and dynamism are not
enough. It is time for critical appraisal of
our leaders.
We need more than just “telling it
like it is” and calling Whitey on the
carpet for their deeds. We also need
competence, excellence, common sense
and an intelligent, intuitive eye to look
past the obvious, set an agenda for prog
ress and take us to a higher plane. And
that is precisely what the minister failed
to do in his speech.
At times some points the minister
argued sounded extremely good when
he said them, but when I examined his
thoughts afterward, they were almost as
sturdy as the newsprint of this fine
publication. And when your arguments
are that flimsy, it is time to check your
self.
Ostensibly, the overall tone of his
speech seemed to be an answer to Jesse
Jackson’s call at the 1988 Democratic
National Convention in Adanta that
“leadership must meet the moral chal
lenge of its day.” But ultimately, his
moral tone put Farrakhan in line with
some unlikely company (but more about
that later).
He talked about issues such as our
population in this nation, the challenges
and hypocrisy African-Americans faced
in the impending war with Iraq and the
recession in the United States, abortion,
the “program" for African-American
women and our position as African-
Americans in a nation where demogra
phers say non-whites are scheduled to
outnumber Whites by the year 2056. But
in all those arguments were points that
made up the disappointment I felt by the
end of the night.
A Black Nation?
So what if we African-Americans can
“breed ourselves into power” by the
middle of the 21st Century, as he so
stated? African-Americans alorfe will not
be in power. Do we really think that we
c^n hold power just by having more
African-Americans, Asians and Hispan-
ics here than Whites? I hope not. Re
member, South Africa is populated by 27
million Africans and only 5 million
Whites—and the majority does NOT
have the power.
At best, nonwhites (not just African-
Americans) will be in the majority, yes—
but our position would be the same as
that of the Africans of South Africa,
provided reforms are continued and
apartheid is eventually brought down. In
that case, we would be part of a group
that held the numbers but not the edu
cational, political or economic power
needed to have a say in the running of
the country. It is obvious, then, that a
numerical majority alone is not the an
swer. If we are to be in power, then we
African-Americans need to organize and
continue for ourselves some sort of
multilevel agenda for self-improvement
on a political, economic and educational
basis in which we work not only as
voters but legislators, not only consum
ers but producers, not only teachers but
administrators—positions in which we
all have the power to control the means
of production, whether we produce laws,
goods or educated minds.
Then, we need to enter into a coali
tion with other nonwhites so that when
the day comes when we reach the major
ity in this country, we can coexist, stand
united with other nonwhites and wield
more power more successfully without
again falling prey to the theory of “divide
and conquer.”
Of Women and Men
I was not impressed with his talk
about African-American women and men.
If the African-American woman of 1990
holds as much social power as Farra
khan said she does, he is stupid to
suggest they give up that power in
exchange for helping our men by taking
for themselves traditional, subordinate
roles—and she would be stupid to give
up the power she has gained in almost
half of Black American families as a role
model and provider, in the process
enslaving herself and maybe dooming
us all if our men are unable to step into
the position of power Farrakhan says
women should give up.
We don’t need women giving up
their power. We don’t need women or
men holding absolute power. What we
need is for our African-American men to
stand up and empower themselves, while
women remain strong and men get
stronger.
We are all survivors, yet as a people
are still up against many challenges that
threaten the very survival in this country.
The obstacles we face as a people are
dire indeed, but in those obstacles lies
the opportunity for a better system. If we
are facing such dire times, perhaps by
strengthening the men and keeping the
women strong, we can create a new
social system where we all let go of
traditional roles in exchange for a system
where all are powerful and contribute to
the advancement of the whole.
If either women or men are weak,
we are all compromised. But if we could
develop a new social order while at the
same time organizing and mobilizing
ourselves for empowerment in alliance
with other nonwhites, then the result
could be a model for the future in which
the chief objective would be group
advancement and not domination. Now
is not the time for African-American
women to create stronger African-Ameri
can men at the expense of the power and
responsibilities they have earned (which,
incidentally, far too many African-Ameri
can males abdicated in the first place).
Abortion—or Humane Behavior?
The third issue which I didn’t agree
with was the issue of abortion, which he
brought up at the end of the night in a
testimonial designed to evoke emotion.
see "Farrakhan," p. 12