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give me nothing. You can only get your-
self out of the hell you're getting yourself
into.
"Jews got a hell of a nerve asking me
to apologize for telling truth...They want
everybody to bow down to them, and I
ain't bowing down to nothing or nobody
but God."
Some Jews, he said, are "the most un-
forgiving people if anyone offends
them...Who do they think they are that I
should...beg for forgiveness when they
helped to bring my people into slavery
and I have never heard a rabbi or Jewish
organization apologize to me and my peo-
ple for what they brought my people to..."
Fiats to apologize have "hurt [me] deep
down," professed Mr. Farrakhan, not just
because he's done no wrong, he said, but
because they too closely echo the slave-
master relationship and the servility de-
manded of blacks while in chains.
Lurking behind the demands of apol-
ogy — and refusals to do so — is the tat-
tered tapestry of recent black-Jewish
relations, with its recurring spasms of

hostility and vitriol, followed by repeat-
ed Band-Aids of reconciliation.
And yet, despite the rhetoric and the
posturing and the name-calling and the
rage, Louis Farrakhan feels he must
choreograph a fine line between convinc-
ing Jews that he's sincerely calling for
better relations — and convincing his own
followers that he is still, as he says, among
the few black leaders (most of whom he
claims Jews have in their vest pockets)
with "the strength to stand up to the
Jews."
His ultimate dilemma is that he's con-
cluded that two little words he won't ut-
ter — "I'm sorry" — stand between him
and the broad acceptance and influence
he seeks. Until he gets the persistent, un-
relenting monkey of anti-Semitism of his
back, many black leaders and personal-
ities will shun him (often, he said, at their
Jewish managers' insistence). He knows
that until the warring halts between him
and Jews — a war for which both sides
blame the other — his economic self-help
programs for blacks are stymied and he

cannot accomplish as much as he wants
to "lift my people out of the filth and the
madness that they're in."
Also motivating Mr. Farrakhan's bid
for repaired relations with Jews is that,
at age 60, as he faces his own mortality,
especially after recently winning a bout
with prostate cancer. He's convinced that
peace with the Jewish community will
help secure his legacy: "I've got grand-
children. I'm not getting any younger. I
want to leave something when I leave the
earth."
According to Mr. Farrakhan, many
whites incorrectly assumed that by play-
ing a violin concerto by Felix
Mendelssohn, a Jewish-born composer,
at a concert in North Carolina last April,
he had begun a campaign to build better
bridges toward Jews.
But he said he did not correct the mis-
conception out of his hope that music's
universal language "will help us rise
above the fray created by words.
"I thought good would come out of this,"
he said, but not that the concert would

give him entree to Jews.
He played Mendelssohn because the
piece was the first concerto he ever heard
— and the last one he learned before stop-
ping formal violin lessons (with a Russ-
ian Jewish teacher) decades ago.
For those on the frontlines of black-
Jewish relations, one of the great, sim-
mering questions is: What, exactly, does
Louis Farrakhan want? And who, exact-
ly, is Louis Farrakhan? Demon and
anti-Semite? Or an unyielding, uncom-
promising defender of his people and the
truth?
When asked point-blank whether he's
anti-Semitic, Mr. Farrakhan answered,
"Hell, no. If by 'anti-Semite,' you mean
that I hate Jews and that I work day and
night to destroy Jewish efforts and Jew-
ish progress, then no. If by 'anti-Semi-
te,' you mean anybody who speaks truth
that offends the sensitivity and sensibil-
ity of Jews in respect to Israel or Jewish
involvement in the slave trade...If I'm
dealing in truth, don't call me an 'anti-
Semite' because I speak the same harsh

BLACKS & MUSLIMS SPEAK OUT ON FARRAKHAN

THE DETROI T JEWIS H N EWS

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

48

do other blacks or Muslims think about
Imam Abdullah El-Amin,
Louis
leader of the Muslim Center in Detroit—
national affiliation with W. D. Muhammad, son of Eli-
jah Muhammad:
"Minister Farrakhan is a Muslim like I'm a Mus-
lim. He has a strong feeling for the progressive ad-
vancement of black people in this country. Often
times, he is looked at unfairly. I don't think he is as
anti-Jewish as he is portrayed to be — not in a racial
sense.
"His first allegiance is to his own race, as it should.
be . We are all the sons of Adam, all part of the human
family. But it is natural to want to see your part of the
family rise up, be prosperous and reap in some bene-
fits and fruits of life. I believe that is Minister Far-
rakhan's motivation — to see his people eat well too.

"He may come across as harsh or uncompromis-
ing, but that is just his style. The goal in sight is for all
people to have a good life."
Desiree Cooper, freelance writer and former le-
gal counsel for New Detroit
"Louis Farrakhan talks about self reliance, as do
the conservative Republicans, Bill Clinton and urban
leaders. I can ascribe to the philosophy that when
people do not have alternatives, they create their own.
The message of empowerment is a universal theme.
"I think the African American community sees
Mr. Farrakhan differently than the community at
large. Many do not see him as anti-Semitic or anti-
white, but pro-African American.
"Some comments Mr. Farrakhan has made have
crossed the line, but I don't think they are representa-
tive of all of his thinking. I'm not a Muslim. I'm not

anti-Semitic. But I believe the message of power and
hope Mr. Farrakhan speaks of gives him mass appeal
from the fringe."
A Chicago cab driver, born in Nigeria:
I'm a Muslim. He isn't. I don't see him and Mal-
colm X in the same company."
A black bookstore clerk:
"Fan-akhan hasn't helped blacks with self-empow-
erment the way Elijah Muhammad did. But as for
what he's saying about Jews, well, the truth is the
truth."
Clarence Page, a black columnist for the Chicago

Tribune:

"It's common in the black community for people
to protect Farrakhan even if they disagree with him.
The lower down in the economic brackets, the more
support for him." ❑