Nation of Islam

The leader of Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, recently endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. Barack Obama was questioned about this endorsement and his answer was that he cannot censor anybody and that he hadn't sought out the endorsement. Okay - that's fair. But it's still fair to see what this particular group stands for... and to try and figure out how they believe that Mr. Obama will help them to achieve their goals. Nation of Islam is a group of black Muslims claiming to stand up for BLACK Muslims in the United States. According to their website, this is what that looks like:

1. We want freedom. We want a full and complete freedom.

2. We want equality of opportunity. We want equal membership in society with the best in civilized society.

3. We want our people in America whose parents or grandparents were descendants from slaves, to be allowed to establish a separate state or territory of their own - either on this continent or elsewhere. We believe that our former slave masters are obligated to provide such land and that the area must be fertile and minerally rich. We believe that our former slave masters are obligated to maintain and supply our needs in this separate territory for the next 20 to 25 years - until we are able to produce and supply our own needs.

4. Since we cannot get along with them in peace and equality, after giving them 400 years of our sweat and blood and receiving in return some of the worst treatment human beings have ever experienced, we believe our contributions to this land and the suffering forced upon us by white America, justifies our demand for complete separation in a state or territory of our own.

5. We want freedom for all believers of Islam now held in federal prisons. We want freedom for all black men and women now under death sentence in innumerable prisons in the North as well as the South.

We want every black man and woman to have the freedom to accept or reject being separated from the slave master's children and establish a land of their own.

We know that the above plan for the solution of the black and white conflict is the best and only answer to the problem between two people.

6. We want an immediate end to the police brutality and mob attacks against the so-called Negro throughout the United States.

We believe that the Federal government should intercede to see that black men and women tried in white courts receive justice in accordance with the laws of the land - or allow us to build a new nation for ourselves, dedicated to justice, freedom and liberty.

7. As long as we are not allowed to establish a state or territory of our own, we demand not only equal justice under the laws of the United States, but equal employment opportunities. NOW!

We do not believe that after 400 years of free or nearly free labor, sweat and blood, which has helped America become rich and powerful, so many thousands of black people should have to subsist on relief or charity or live in poor houses.

8. We want the government of the United States to exempt our people from ALL taxation as long as we are deprived of equal justice under the laws of the land.

9. We want equal education - but separate schools up to 16 for boys and 18 for girls on the condition that the girls be sent to women's colleges and  universities. We want all black children educated, taught and trained by their own teachers.

Under such schooling system we believe we will make a better nation of people. The United States government should provide, free, all necessary text books and equipment, schools and college buildings. The Muslim teachers shall be left free to teach and train their people in the way of righteousness, decency and self respect.

10. We believe that intermarriage or race mixing should be prohibited. We want the religion of Islam taught without hinderance or suppression.

So many contradictions... where to begin?!?

I especially like how they have among their beliefs and goals that the black people shouldn't have to subsist on charity while at the same time demanding their own "minerally rich land," no taxation, and 20 to 25 years of the white man completely providing for their new country. Pray tell, what is that if not charity?? I would also like to see the United States law that requires black people to live in the poor house on the public dole. 

Oh, and they also want "equal membership in society" while they demand their own country be handed to them on a platter. I also think it's a hoot that they're demanding from the United States government their own country "on this continent or elsewhere." Where else do they think the United States government could possibly give them something?? Oh, OH - I just had an idea! We could give them New Mexico!! Really, I've driven through it... there's not much there... and we could give it to them with the stipulation that they have to keep Bill Richardson!

Their demand that the federal government free "all believers in Islam" is good for a chuckle. Of course, top that with the complete freedom of all black prisoners on death row... and we could live in Utopia! I'm beginning to think that Islam attracts the emotionally disturbed variety of folks... aren't you? I mean, one could almost understand a group of blacks hoping to have all black death row prisoners taken off death row. But released?? C'mon... you've gotta at least pretend to be reasonable! 

And what's with number 6 saying something about the so-called Negro? Do you want to be called a Negro? If you don't, call yourselves what you like. I don't know of many people who are calling black people Negroes these days... do you? I've heard the term African-American frequently (although there was an opinion piece in the New York Times today decrying this very thing... the piece was called something like "Go Back To Black").

Number 8 tickles my funny bone, too. How many black people on the public dole, living in the slums pay taxes? I mean, these are the people this group is claiming to represent, right? Can't you just see them all in their humble abodes with their calculators feverishly working to file their 1040EZ forms? I'm thinking not. And since they're on the public dole, most likely living in public housing, do you think that they're paying property taxes? Doubt it. What taxes are they wishing to avoid? Sales tax? What a hoot.

And numbers 9 and 10 are just hilarious. Here is a group of black people who actually wish to go back to segregation... because they believe that this way they can teach Islam in the public schools. Somebody should tell these guys how much progress CAIR is making. It might help them to sleep at night. Frankly, with all their contradictions and hilarity in their own official literature, the idea of these people being in charge of education is just darned scary. For the record, "minerally" is not a word.

Well, go Obama go. And I still say give them New Mexico.