Why Obama 'denounced' Farrakhan
It wasn't candidate's best move -- but most blacks understand
When Sen. Barack Obama "rejected" and "denounced" the support of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan during the MSNBC debate last week, it wasn't his finest hour.
Fortunately for Obama, most black people understand the game.
No matter how many times Farrakhan explains, defends or refutes anti-Semitic comments that have been attributed to him, his kiss is still the kiss of death.
Hours after Farrakhan praised Obama during his annual Saviours' Day speech last Sunday, the Obama campaign moved to distance the candidate from Farrakhan, telling the Associated Press that it did not solicit Farrakhan's support.
In responding to questions during the debate, Obama took a much stronger approach.
"I have been very clear in my denunciation of Minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments," Obama told Tim Russert, NBC Washington Bureau chief.
"I did not solicit his support. ... I obviously can't censor him, but it is not support that I sought. And we're not doing anything, I assure you formally or informally, with Minister Farrakhan."
That wasn't good enough for Russert.
He then dragged the Rev. Jeremiah Wright into the debate. Wright, who is retiring after 36 years as the head pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, accompanied Farrakhan to Libya in 1984 and once said the Nation of Islam leader epitomizes "greatness," Russert pointed out.
The point here, of course, is that these men -- one the pastor of an 8,000-member congregation where the church roll reads like a Who's Who of the Chicago black elite, and the other the leader of an organization that has historically saved young men from crime and drugs -- are unfit to even speak of Obama.
After Sen. Hillary Clinton challenged Obama, saying "denounce" wasn't strong enough, Obama told Russert he would "reject and denounce" Farrakhan's support. The whole exchange made me ill.
Although Obama scored points for defusing a political bomb, his answer was insulting.
Yet the stakes are too high for African Americans to lose faith.
That's why on Thursday, Farrakhan issued the following statement:
"Those who have been supporting Sen. Barack Obama should not allow what was said during the Feb. 26 presidential debate to lessen their support for his campaign. This is simply mischief making intended to hurt Mr. Obama politically."
As one of Farrakhan's closest advisers put it, "At this point in the campaign, a 'pebble' can become a 'boulder.'"
"We are trying to focus on the motive," said Leonard Muhammad, chief of staff for the Nation of Islam.
"We know the motive is to have some negative effect on Obama's campaign, and we know the minister is not all those things that they have accused him of being for the last 20 years."
Other longtime supporters of the Nation of Islam are willing to forgive Obama for playing into the hands of his staunchest critics.
"There is a new level of political maturity that one can observe going on in the black movement," said Conrad Worrill, a professor at Northeastern Illinois University Jacob Carruther's Center, and a co-founder of the National Black United Front.
"Right now, people are exercising political discipline as it centers around the goals of the black electoral empowerment movement. In the '60s, '70s or '80s, if this kind of condemnation had taken place by one of our revered leaders, there would have been a verbal bloodbath," he said.
"But the more we engaged in verbal rhetoric, the more our enemies used it against us. It is just unfortunate that at this moment in history we don't have the kind of power as a people to keep us from capitulating to forces that have their own agenda."
At 74 years old, Farrakhan has paid his dues in the battle against racial oppression and hatred. Over the years, a lot of black people have disagreed with Farrakhan on his stance regarding Israel, and many of us have regretted his ongoing controversy with powerful Jewish leaders.
Yet Farrakhan's appeal to masses of African Americans is that he is not a politician. And he is free to speak his mind because his organization does not depend on outside support.
Obama should have found a way to escape Russert's trap without denigrating Farrakhan's legacy.
But, like I said, we understand.
