Perspectives

The Fear of Black Manhood: Jude Wanniski Explains The Farrakhan Ban

By Demetric Muhammad-Guest Columnist- | Last updated: Jun 27, 2019 - 12:33:50 PM

What's your opinion on this article?

fear-black-manhood_07-02-2019.jpg

Long before the very recent social media ban, Minister Louis Farrakhan had been dubbed persona non grata by Jewish groups like the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), JDL (Jewish Defense League) and the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center). In fact the ADL threatened to punish any and all prominent persons and institutions who would share their platform with Minister Farrakhan.  In 1994 Steven Freeman wrote:

“The ADL is not going to make Farrakhan go away. What we can and should do is impose an obligation on those who deal with him, or, as in the case of universities, give him a platform. In each case, the burden should be on those who give Farrakhan some measure of credibility …”

Within Freeman’s report on the subject of the “Legitimization of Louis Farrakhan” he acknowledges that Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam fill a void within the Black community, yet they—the ADL—still wanted to thwart him. They wanted to thwart the Minister because they felt the Minister’s message was good for Blacks, but bad for Jews.

Again, the Minister has never advocated or been the reason that any violence has come to the Jewish people.  The question therefore arises, “why is Farrakhan feared”?

I found an interesting perspective inside of a very fascinating interview conducted by my dear friend and brother Cedric Muhammad on his groundbreaking website blackelectorate.com. He was interviewing legendary economist and former advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Jude Wanniski. Mr. Wanniski offered the following perspective that shines a great light on and helps to answer the question of why Farrakhan is feared:

“See, Minister Farrakhan is frightening to Whites, and I would surmise Blacks as well because he emphasizes the masculinity of Black America which has been crushed since slavery. Dr. Martin Luther King represented the feminine side and that is what has been permitted and what most White folks are now comfortable with.”

warriors_07-02-2019d.jpg

This is a very powerful admission coming from Mr. Wanniski. As a member of the elite ruling class of White males within American society, Mr. Wanniski is qualified to provide an insider’s view into how Minister Farrakhan is looked upon by the most powerful White males within American society. And as such, his candid expression to Bro. Cedric Muhammad provides for us a window into the private thoughts of men like Mark Zuckerberg and those who have closed ranks and determined to create a blockade against the message of Minister Farrakhan.

Mr. Wanniski is now deceased, but before he passed away, he met with Minister Farrakhan and publicly defended Minister Farrakhan against his critics. He orchestrated an event among his peers and followers, during the late 1990s so that Minister Farrakhan could deliver an address to a conference of powerful investors and business people in Boca Raton, Florida. 

I find Mr. Wanniski’s comments very consistent with research that I have produced in historical context of the condition of Black men within American society. In February of this year, I published a book entitled “Manhood Principles, Parables, Concepts and Characteristics from the Holy Qur’an”

To contextualize and offer reasons for why Black Manhood is an important enough topic to publish a book about, I shared with the readers some quotes to document the perilous history of Black Manhood in America. Consider the following quotes on the fear and destruction of Black Manhood:

President Lyndon Baines Johnson: “Perhaps most important—its influence radiating to every part of life—is the breakdown of the Negro family structure. For this, most of all, white America must accept responsibility. It flows from centuries of oppression and persecution of the Negro man. It flows from the long years of degradation and discrimination, which have attacked his dignity and assaulted his ability to produce for his family.” (Address to Howard University, 1965)

Mark Twain: ‘I do not believe I would very cheerfully help a white student who would ask a benevolence of a stranger,’’ Twain wrote Francis Wayland, the law school dean, on Dec. 24, 1885, ‘but I do not feel so about the other color. We have ground the manhood out of them, & the shame is ours, not theirs; & we should pay for it.’’ (Edwin McDonnell, From Twain, A Letter On Debt to Blacks)

President Johnson’s and Mark Twain’s quotes highlight the truth that the destruction of Black Manhood has been a societal norm in America. These statements, and what they admit, coming from such prominent and highly respected American icons cannot be overemphasized! They strongly punctuate and should actually frame current public discourse surrounding the issue of reparations.

The deliberate destruction of Black Manhood has always been based on the fear of the Black man’s expected and justified resistance and opposition to the enslavement and subjugation of Black people in America.

The fear and destruction of Black men is the foundation upon which the idea of White supremacy is established. It is the core requirement needed to completely dominate Black people as has been the achievement of American chattel slavery, global imperialism and European colonialism.

Minister Farrakhan is well known for his noble and upstanding male followers and his overall transformative impact on Black males; converting us from “mere males” to “extraordinary men.” And it is within his inspiring of Black men to become strong fathers, husbands, community stakeholders, crime fighters and spiritual leaders that we find the strongest refutation of the false allegation that he is a teacher of hate and bigotry. What the Minister makes of those of us who become his students—that scares the White ruling class—threatens the historical concept of the roles Black men and women would perform within American society.

Author William Goodell, in his very important work “The American Slave Code” states that the “Negro” may be used as:

“...a ‘breeder,’ as a prostitute, as a concubine, as a pimp, as a tapster, as an attendant at the gaming-table, as a subject of medical and surgical experiments... .”

The students and followers of Minister Farrakhan are unwilling to accept such an undignified status within American society. So the Minister’s magnificent message is feared and opposed only by those who seek to keep us perpetually serving in these degrading roles; the roles of the “Negro”: a living dead person.

Minister Farrakhan’s identity as a Muslim as well as a revolutionary leader is especially concerning to the ruling powers.  T. Lothrop Stoddard at the turn of the 20th century wrote an epic warning entitled “The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy”. In his survey of the geo-political and global racial landscapes he wrote:

“Certainly, all white men, whether professing Christians or not, should welcome the success of [Christian] missionary efforts in Africa. … All Negroes will someday be either Christians or Moslems. In so far as he is Christianized, the Negro’s savage instincts will be restrained and he will be disposed to acquiesce in white tutelage. In so far as he is Islamized, the Negro’s warlike propensities will be inflamed, and he will … drive the white man from Africa and make the continent its very own.”

He continued by writing about the fighting nature of the African people and it being stimulated by their Islamic faith:

“With very few exceptions the colored races of Africa are preeminently fighters. ... To them the fierce, warlike spirit inherent in Mohammedanism (Islam) is infinitely more attractive …”

Legendary Black historian Edward Wilmont Blyden is also on the record as he described the religion of Islam as being a steward of and enhancement to the natural masculinity of the Black/African people. He wrote in his very important book “Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race” as the following:

“When the religion [of Islam] was first introduced it found the people possessing all the elements and enjoying all the privileges of an untrammeled manhood. They received it as giving them additional power to exert an influence in the world. It sent them forth as the guides and instructors of their less favored neighbors and endowed them with the self-respect which men feel who acknowledge no superior.” 

Mr. Wanniski’s statements on how Black masculinity lies at the root of why the Minister is feared is easy to understand in light of these windows into history. And the Minister’s popularity certainly adds to the fear that his message and example of strong Black manhood, fearless manhood, God-centered manhood will spread among those who, as Mark Twain wrote, have had their manhood “ground out” of them.

I wrap up this short article with the testimony of a White writer by the name of R.R. Reno, who wrote an article in the magazine First Things, March 2013 edition. His article entitled “Black Power, White Fear” summarizes the fear based reaction to Minister Farrakhan that Jude Wanniski so eloquently expressed to Bro. Cedric. The social media ban against the Minister’s message leads us to believe that Mr. Wanniski and Mr. Reno’s words typify the fear of Minister Farrakhan that haunts all who are uncomfortable seeing Black manhood rise and exert itself within American society and the world stage.  Mr. Reno wrote:

“I remember the Black Muslims from when I was growing up, I remember them as symbols of male self-possession and potency. In my racial imagination, they could meet me face to face, but not on my own terms. They represented something that I never otherwise encountered as an adolescent; a cultural way of being American that was close enough to engage me, compete with me, put demands on me, but independent enough to resist me, and even ignore or mock me. I never felt so white, so contingent and vulnerable, as when I encountered the Black Muslims.”