From The Final Call Newspaper

Forward Ever, Backward Never, The Life, Legacy And Value Of Paul Robeson

By Richard B. Muhammad - Editor | Last updated: Nov 23, 2016 - 4:49:54 PM

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—The effort to bring Louis Farrakhan to Rutgers University was met with severe opposition: Lies were told about the Nation of Islam minister, false charges were lodged against him and the event organizers, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity’s chapter on campus, were charged thousands of dollars to try to have the outspoken and beloved leader speak at the university for free.

Min. Farrakhan spoke Nov. 19 to students at Rutgers University. Photos: Andrea Muhammad

“I don’t charge college students because the greatest gifts of all are you,” said the 83-year-old leader, who has been teaching for some 60 years. Min. Farrakhan called young people “the love of my life” and said he treasured every opportunity to impart knowledge to make their life struggle a little less difficult and to have youth avoid past mistakes made in the battle for Black liberation.

It isn’t that Farrakhan is violent, but true revolution comes through knowledge and which is like bringing light to Black people, he said. It’s also like cockroaches who run when the lights are turned on in an apartment, he said. The audience laughed and applauded.

He denied false charges he was a misogynist. “I’m anti-sup-posed to be everything, but anti-woman? My mother is the greatest woman in my life and I would not be who I am without her. I am married to my wife for 63 years and she really is the wind beneath my wings,” he said. We teach honor, love and respect in particular for Black women but for all women, without you we don’t exist, there is not future for any nation without the honor, elevation and protection of the female, he added.

And, the Minister added, hopefully the professors who have had to so much to say about me are here.

At left, Abdul Rahim Mahmoud, vice president of the Delta Iota chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, and chapter President Nana Kweku Annoh.

He thanked those who decided his subject would be Paul Robeson, the great Black champion for justice who graduated from Rutgers and was an accomplished scholar, athlete, actor and singer. Mr. Robeson was taught about the value of convictions and standing on what you believe by his father, said Min. Farrakhan.


He spoke of a kinship with Mr. Robeson, calling him a hero.

“You are college students and should never be afraid to hear ideas coming from someone else,” he said. “You are intelligent. … When a college is afraid to have a man like me come on campus and spread all kinds of rumors that make you fear me and want to stone me,” he said. But that same thing was done to Paul Robeson, Prophet Muhammad, Jesus and all wise people who bring light that brings people out of darkness and ends their misuse as tools and slaves of the enemy. Mr. Robeson didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t use drugs, he pursued excellence, said Min. Farrakhan.

If you are afraid of White people and refuse to stand for truth, you don’t know Mr. Robeson, he said. In the late 1930s and 1940s, he challenged White mistreatment of Blacks and traveled outside of America to Russia and Africa, said the Minister. Mr. Robeson studied scientific socialism but was branded a Communist, persecuted and had his passport taken, he explained.

White theatre owners denied Mr. Robeson the ability to make a living at home and then the U.S. government deprived him of the right to make a living abroad, he said. Mr. Robeson earned a law degree but was unable to use it and was an incredible singer and performer, said Min. Farrakhan.
Mr. Robeson had integrity, which isn’t taught in college, he said. Mr. Robeson developed into a man of high character and the basis of good character is honesty, said Min. Farrakhan.

If you are a college professor you should not be afraid to deal with truth to protect your job, he said.
Growing up Mr. Robeson learned how to appease and not threaten Whites but he was hated by some of them and envied for his gifts and intellect, said Min. Farrakhan.

“Now that Mr. Trump is in office I think you can feel that something is going down now,” he said. Latinos, Blacks and young Whites who want a different path feel the chilling change and racial animosity in the air, he said.

The current animosity is rooted in a system of White supremacy and domination over Blacks who are the original people of the planet, which was proven by historian Ivan Van Sertima, another Rutgers graduate and scholar. They don’t teach you about Mr. Van Sertima because his research will destroy the lies of western education, the Minister said.

“They don’t want you to know the real truth of who you are,” said Min. Farrakhan. “Right now you are struggling to find yourself so you are everything. Nobody should use any tool to make you into themselves.” But, he said, your natural religion is Islam and Whites made you Christians and did not find it incompatible for Blacks to be Christians and slaves, he said.

The myth of Black inferiority and the lie that Blacks did not have high civilization is part and parcel of higher education and what is taught at Rutgers, he said. Blacks were denied the right to read for 300 years and the libraries of the native peoples in South America were destroyed by Whites, he said.

In addition to a corrupted education rooted in White supremacy, the focus on education is to make money, the Minister said. But Mr. Robeson’s father taught him integrity is more important than amassing wealth, he said.

At the height of his career, earning $100,000 a year, Mr. Robeson decided to speak out against the hurt and pain of Black people, said the Minister. He suffered and his income dropped to just $6,000 a year, he added.

Mr. Robeson was as big as Michael Jackson and was an artist rooted in the culture of his people, early on he only sang songs written by Blacks, Min. Farrakhan said. People think that when you are greatly gifted you will not sacrifice those gifts for something bigger than yourself, he added. But Mr. Robeson didn’t care just as NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick doesn’t care and speaks to the hurt of Black people, he said.

“What price are you willing to pay for the liberation we seek? It’s not going to come easy,” he told the students.

“I am not anti-White, but I am antilies, anti-injustice and anti-those things that make a human being less than what that human being potentially can achieve,” said Min. Farrakhan.

“(Mr. Robeson) was hated because of his love for you. Why are you hated Farrakhan? Because of my love for you. Paul was willing to die to see Black people in a better place, he didn’t learn that at Rutgers,” said the Minister.

Mr. Robeson was called before the House Un-American Affairs Committee, and he confronted them, continued Min. Farrakhan. Asked why didn’t he stay in Russia or Africa, Mr. Robeson responded that America is where he lived, had a right to live, and called the congressmen fascists, he said.

The men of the Delta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. The Black fraternity organized the Minister’s recent visit and lecture to students on campus. Photo: Andrea Muhammad

So the American government was his enemy yesterday and remains the enemy of the Black community today, warned Min. Farrakhan. They fear the growing Black population, just as it is written of pharaoh in the bible feared the growth of the birth of the children of Israel, he said.


The U.S. government targeted Marcus Garvey, Dr. Martin Luther King, Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and Black organizations, fearing the rise of a Black messiah who wanted an independent nation for Blacks, he said. They want Farrakhan, the Minister added.

“When he parlayed his cultural genius into a spokesperson for our hurt, they did everything they could to destroy him. Brothers and sister you have a chance to make your life a meaningful life. … Paul Robeson found his purpose in life and he built his life from principles that never die,” the Minister told the students.

Storm Ervin, a graduate student, was impressed by the Minister’s lecture. “It was how he was able to break down White supremacy on college campuses that you’re not going to learn in school. It was fascinating to hear. Because every time I hear about Farrakhan I hear about his relations to the Nation of Islam and the movement at large but for him to make it specific to college campuses and I’m a college activist. So that was really intriguing to me,” she said.

She wore a Black sweatshirt that read “The Liberation Of All African People.” A graduate of the University of Missouri, she was at the school as racial problems erupted on campus last year. Blacks at Mizzo and southern rural schools face blatant White supremacy and see disparity in hiring, she said. “Black students again being called a nigger is common, it’s not uncommon from White students. It’s pretty upsetting. There was a Black student at Mizzo last week who had a gun pulled out on him by a Trump supporter,” she said.

Ms. Irvin was hearing the Minister for the first time. His words about the choices students face were real to her. “About two days ago I had this fight, ‘ok are you going to speak your truth and be real or are you going to play safe—play the respectable Negro in the situation?’ I chose not to. And the reason I chose not to is because it’s a disservice to your people to use your education, which is a privilege in America, to not speak the truth or to not make freedom a real thing for your people. It’s a disservice. Because you are here on the backs of Black slaves, our Black ancestors. So you have to it’s your duty,” said the St. Louis native.

“I can’t say on how he used to be but I do think today he addressed the issue of being misogynistic or women hating and he defended that and said he wasn’t. But I appreciate that, I appreciate him bringing up, ‘well this is how I’m not.’ I think that shows real leadership.… Because sometimes you can be critiqued and say ‘whatever’ and that’s not what he tried to do,” she said.

“Some of the main points that I feel Brother Farrakhan was able to make in his public speech was the call for unity. I think that’s the biggest issue that’s kind of seen today on the campuses and in the community and kind of every aspect. I feel like that’s the main point that we need to make is the call for unity especially being a member of a fraternity,” said Ivan Thompson, a senior from Cumberland, N.J., majoring in human resources and labor studies. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. He will be graduating in December.

“We see that there’s so much emphasis on differences between fraternities that at the end of the day we forget that we’re also here for the same cause and from the same population. We’re here to unite the Black population with everybody as a whole in general. And I feel like we’re not actually taking the steps that we need to take in order to empower the community and uplift like we need to be doing.”

Abdul Rahim Mahmoud, a Rutgers student and vice-president of the Delta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, worked with others since last year to bring the Minister to the school. It was initially estimated $10,000 would be required for security costs for a room limited to 500 people. The final cost may be $5,000. The pressure was so heavy that even the Paul Robeson Cultural Center on campus reportedly gave a $700 donation but didn’t have its name on the event flier. The Minister chided the center, saying Mr. Robeson was no coward and a center that carries his name should reflect his strength.

The Minister spoke as Rutgers celebrated its 250th anniversary and a report detailed the school’s connection to slavery from its earliest days. There had also been anti- Trump protests by students.
A very deceptive structure uses people after they are dead and that was not going to be allowed to happen with Paul Robeson who was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha at Rutgers, said Brother Mahmoud. There have been racial issues on campus since the Trump election and it is often difficult for Black students to graduate, added Brother Mahmoud, who is also a member of Mosque No. 25.

Black students are disrespected, he said. “I would want the Black student body and the Rutgers student body as a whole to actually revolutionary think and revolutionize their train of thought. And actually question and evaluate, if you just take something because a professor said it, that doesn’t make it valid. But actually investigate and get to know a man or woman before they judge that person’s character,” he said. When they lied on the Minister, it was war, said Brother Mahmoud.
For more information or to assist the Delta Iota Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity contact deltaiota1906@ gmail.com.

From The Final Call Newspaper

One Unchangeable Position: Making America White Again

By Final Call News | Last updated: Nov 15, 2016 - 11:06:40 AM



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After a stunning and historic political upset, President-elect Donald Trump is moving forward to lead the nation. With his first televised interview and some subdued communication with President Barack Obama, the new chairman of America, Inc. is sounding a little different from the bombastic man who thrashed his way to the White House.

The Trump victory, earned by winning 290 electoral votes while losing the popular vote, has seen the president-elect and some surrogates pulling back from some signature campaign themes and promises. Among the pullbacks or detours are eviscerating Obamacare—the war cry of the GOP and Mr. Trump. Such language has been replaced by talk of fixes à la Hillary Clinton as opposed to destroying it. Second, building that wall on the border with Mexico and having Mexico pay for it. Not so fast, the president-elect told 60 Minutes, agreeing the wall could be a fence in some places. The first priority would be securing the borders, then looking at building the wall itself, said the president-elect. Newt Gingrich, a GOP Trump backer, said, “He’ll spend a lot of time controlling the border. He may not spend very much time trying to get Mexico to pay for it, but it was a great campaign device.”

Trump backer Rudy Giuliani told the media the wall will be built because Mr. Trump promised but other things, like tax reform and jobs creation, would take priority in the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

What about that special prosecutor to examine possible misdeeds by Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton? Mr. Trump told 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, in his first TV interview, that he didn’t want to hurt the Clintons. And, he said, there were bigger fish to fry—notably the economy, simplifying taxes, immigration, health care and overall making America great again. He did promise to deport two million to three million undocumented immigrants who were criminals.

Mr. Trump paid more respect to Mr. Obama, whose U.S. citizenship he challenged as leader of the birther movement, following a White House visit than some supporters may have expected.

He vowed to phase out the use of lobbyists, when asked about lobbyists on his transition team, which was a little different from his signature “drain the swamp” refrain—a promise to get money and influence peddling out of U.S. politics.

Some argued mainstream media had taken Mr. Trump literally while his followers were more pragmatic and believed he would deliver on his promises to make change—even if it didn’t start right away. Others argued the Trump moves were a natural part of going from campaigning to actually governing, which could take a little more nuance, patience and negotiation.

There may be some truth to all of the analysis, but there is one plank in the Trump platform and campaign playbook that cannot be denied or softened: The embrace of Whiteness and the fears and concerns of disaffected Whites.

Mr. Trump looked into a 60 Minutes camera and called for an end to any racial assault and hatred coming out of the divisive campaign. But what he didn’t do was admit the deep fear that exists and how divided the country is across racial and other lines. In the 60 Minutes interview he denied hearing much about the anti-Trump protests, post-election violence and racist acts targeting non-Whites across the country. He again placed part of the blame for demonstrations on professional protestors paid to make him look bad.

Trump surrogates echoed that same script. They were unwilling to acknowledge how Mr. Trump’s rhetoric against immigrants, against Mexicans, against Muslims, promises to pay legal expenses for anyone knocking out a protestor at one rally, misogynistic comments and charges of sexual assaults had helped push the country to the edge.

But such rhetoric freed the Whites who gave him victories, by small margins in the battleground states, and ushered him into the White House.

His biggest nod to White victimology and White suffering was the appointment of Steve Bannon, who served as an important campaign aide and anti-GOP establishment voice, as his chief strategist. Mr. Bannon’s appointment was announced alongside the naming of his new chief of staff, former Republican National Committee Chair Reince Preibus.

The Washington Post reported “Bannon and Breitbart were credited with honing Trump’s message against globalism, and unleashing his say-anything approach to talking about terror and immigrant crime.”

The New York Times noted “a chorus of critics took to Twitter to lament what they said was a frightening normalization of the fringe views that Mr. Bannon promoted as the chairman of Breitbart News. The site has for years given voice to anti-Semitic, racist and white nationalist ideology.

“The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Mr. Bannon’s selection ‘sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and white nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House.’ ”

“The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office,” said John Weaver, a Republican strategist who ran the presidential campaign of Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio and previously advised Senator John McCain of Arizona, in the Times piece. “Be very vigilant, America.”

Ana Navarro, a Republican strategist and anti-Trump voiced, tweeted: “Oh, hell! White supremacist, anti gay, anti Semite, vindictive, scary-ass dude named Senior Strategist. After vomiting, be afraid, America.”

“The appointment of Steve Bannon to a senior position within the White House does very little in the interest of healing our country following months of contentious campaign rhetoric from President-elect Trump. Bannon’s appointment is a cold slap in the face to those of us who are working to mend race relations in America, and it further divides our country along the lines of hate and bigotry,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).

“President-elect Trump must work to bring us together and his appointment of Steve Bannon sends an alarming signal that he remains loyal to the animosity and hatred that was the core of his campaign.”

The other issues are negotiable and there is room to change and morph. What Mr. Trump cannot afford to do is to alienate or deny the White malaise that swept him into office. They want one thing: Make America White again. Then, they believe, everything else will fall into place.

From The Final Call Newspaper

The quiet aftermath of carnage in Charleston
By Richard B. Muhammad and Brian E. Muhammad -Final Call Staffers- | Last updated: Nov 9, 2016 - 12:30:38 PM

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Frame from video seconds before Mr. Scott’s death. Photos: MGN Online

Michael Thomas Slager, North Charleston police offi cer who shot and killed the unarmed Walter Scott.

CHARLESTON, S.C. —An overcast Friday afternoon closed the first week of the trial of former officer Michael Slager, who is accused of murdering an unarmed Black man. The death was captured on videotape.


The opening week included tearful testimony from the mother of Walter Scott, whose unsuccessful run for his life was captured by Feidin Santana, who happened to be late for work that fateful day in 2015.
                    

Walter Scott

“Murder is murder, I don’t care what uniform you are wearing,” said a Caucasian woman crossing at the intersection of Broad St. and Meeting St. She was speaking into a cell phone and commenting on the Slager trial.

To her back was the courthouse where Mr. Slager was facing potential justice and tucked in a courtyard were journalists covering the trial. Their TV trucks lined up along Meeting St.

The Scott trial opening coincided with plans for the trial of accused mass murderer Dylann Roof, who authorities say shot down nine Blacks after Bible study at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston trying to start a race war.

Despite defense lawyers’ objections, the jury, composed of 11 Whites and one Black male, watched the videotape of 50-year-old Scott running away as Off. Slager fired his weapon.

Mr. Scott scuffles with the officer, then turns and runs. Shot in the back, his body collapses on the ground.

“For some reason I decided to use my phone to record and prevent something that might happen,” Mr. Santana told jurors.

What should have been a simple traffic stop over a broken tail light ended up in a horrifying encounter witnessed by horrified viewers over the internet and on television. The friend who was in the car with Mr. Scott testified that his friend was murdered.

eidin Santana, witness who took video of Michael Thomas Slager and Walter Scott confrontation and shooting.

Defense lawyers tried to argue the video was part of a life and death struggle between the two men. It was hard to accept that with bullets pumped into a man who was running away.


Mr. Santana testified that he never saw the victim with the Taser nor on top of Off. Slager who was fired after the incident. The family of Mr. Scott also received a $6.5 million settlement from the city of North Charleston, where the shooting took place.

Mr. Santana, who is bi-racial and a permanent U. S. resident, was fearful for his life and of police which led him to initially hold the videotape. When it went public, the images were explosive, released to the media by Scott family lawyers contacted by Mr. Santana.

Defense attorney Andy Savage questioned Mr. Santana, raising questions about a song against police brutality he wrote. “I’m not against any law enforcement, any officer,” Mr. Santana replied. “I am against police brutality.”

Past and current officers who testified the first week and Nov. 7 as the trial began its second week were generally supportive of their former colleague. One saying Mr. Slager was not a hot head and one insisting Mr. Slager had been in a fight.

But two officers were forced to admit the account of what happened given by Mr. Scott did not mesh with the damning videotape.

One officer said he tried to perform CPR on Mr. Scott who was handcuffed, laying facedown and suffering from bullet wounds. Mr. Scott did not respond to efforts to revive him, the officer said.
Both officers testified that when they got to the scene, Mr. Slager told them he and Mr. Scott had wrestled and that Mr. Scott got control of Mr. Slager’s Taser. The 34-year-old faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.

Judy Scott, who testified in the first week, broke down. Her anguished cries could be heard as the trial was livestreamed on the internet. She testified that her son called her during the traffic stop, saying he was Tasered and she heard his moans. Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, the lead prosecutor in the case, questioned the hurting mother. The prosecutor argued the ex-cop was intentional in his murder of Mr. Scott and tried to cover up the crime by dropping his Taser next to the man’s body.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks Nov. 5 in North Charleston, S.C. Photo: Andrea Muhammad

“Justice is the only principle that will cause Charleston to be favored by God. The policeman that shot Walter Scott has a jury of 11 Whites and one Black. If justice does not come for this family and if justice does not come for the nine that perished from the pistol of Dylann Roof, let me tell you what Charleston will soon face,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in an important statement. It was issued Nov. 7 over social media, just two days after a highly successful major speech in North Charleston, hosted by the “magnificent pastor” Isaac Holt, Jr.


The Minister recounted how for nearly two years his efforts to come to Charleston and pay his respects to the families of the Emanuel 9—but every effort was blocked. The North Charleston police officer who killed Mr. Scott fired eight shots, striking the unarmed man five times, the Minister noted. That officer is on trial now and the trial of the Emanuel 9 killer, according to authorities, will soon follow, the Minister observed.

A biblical scripture in the chapter Isiah, says justice stands afar off and equity cannot enter because truth has fallen in the streets, said the Minister.

“Whenever truth is spoken, justice in accord with truth must follow if there is going to be peace. But if justice does not come when truth is spoken, that the truth now falls in the street and justice stands afar off and equity cannot enter, then it’s a sign that the forces of falsehood are so strong, so wicked that they will not bow to the majesty of truth to bring about justice and eat the fruit of peace,” he said.

Dylann Roof at his bond hearing in Charleston South Carolina June 19, 2015. Photo: MGN Online

“So these forces of falsehood if justice does not come, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said they have to be removed physically and that is why God enters that picture. Since he gives you a chance to do justice, then vengeance is his and he will exact a terrible punishment to prove to those who have power to lie, to cheat, to steal, to kill and think that they get away with it. God is on the side of the weak, the oppressed. God is never in favor of the tyrant. And fighting against tyranny really is obedience to God,” said Min. Farrakhan.


“So God will have his way no matter what the jury does. But if they are wicked enough to deny these families justice, then God will answer and I fear the terrible nature of his chastisement. Be warned.”
The Slager jury consists of six White men, five White women and one Black man.

The local NAACP and the National Action Network affiliate have complained about the racial makeup of the jury. Scott family lawyers have said they are unconcerned about the jury’s racial makeup as it just takes two eyes and ears to see Mr. Slager’s guilt and hold him accountable.

“Overall I am frustrated. I am sickened,” said Thomas Dixon, a Charleston community leader and U.S. Senate candidate. He lambasted those in the established power structure and political leaders, complaining about a lack of will to use their influence and power.

“Those who have the power to put legislation forth that possibly could have … have done nothing,” he said. In this instance, Mr. Dixon was referring to the Emanuel Church massacre. He blamed Senate Republicans and the South Carolina state legislature for blocking “sensible gun control” laws. But, he noted, when tragedy strikes these politicians hypocritically tweet prayers, but fail to change policy.

“Don’t come talking about we praying for you after the fact—that’s hypocritical—just say we don’t care nothing about you because we did nothing to stop this from happening out in the front,” Mr. Dixon said.

“I have a problem with these folks who like to pat themselves on the back and when they have sound bites or photo ops, all of a sudden they want to bring up Mother Emanuel. That sickens me.”

The trial of ex-cop Michael Slager is underway in downtown Charleston SC. Photos: Richard B Muhammad

Some residents, like Micki Zalatimo and Danielle Jackson, are watching as things unfold with the Slager trial. “We need something or someone to give us hope that this is going to turn out right,” said Ms. Zalatmo. Ms. Jackson, a lifelong resident of Charleston, added, “We’re so stuck on our old ways and our old ways haven’t brought upon change. We need somebody to stir up the fire, stir up the pot to get us riled up.”

Others say Black leaders should beware of capitulating to the White power structure while Blacks and the poor in Charleston, North Charleston and the state suffer. Some leaders quickly offered forgiveness for Mr. Roof before he asked for it or expressed regret for his alleged crime. Some spoke of reconciliation and healing but said little about the law of justice.

“The masses are not going to listen to the buffer or the sellout leadership anymore, they have lost their power … God has silenced their voices,” stated Student Minister DeAndre Muhammad of the Nation of Islam group in Charleston.

There is another power that’s controlling the masses that neither the misleaders nor the enemy can control, he said. Among the grassroots and leadership, there are those watching these two cases and their outcome, the Muslim student minister continued. They have already imbalanced the jury in the Slager trial by having 11 Whites with one Black juror, he added.

“There is no trust in this justice system because of the years of lies and disrespect and injustice that we have received,” said Student Minister Muhammad. “They don’t want to play with the aspirations of the people for justice because the God of Justice will answer. Allah Himself and the forces of nature is set and ready and the anger of the masses of the people is going to be ignited based on injustice and that is only right.” As the Slager trial and the Roof trial go forward, it will be seen if the quiet Friday afternoon was a sign of disconnection, complacency or reconciliation—or a ticking racial time bomb ready to ignite at the proper time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

  

From The Final Call Newspaper

America - A House divided against itself
By Charlene Muhammad, Brian Muhammad, J.A. Salaam -Final Call Staffers- | Last updated: Oct 27, 2016 - 11:25:22 AM

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‘Ugly days ahead,’ regardless of winner of 2016 presidential election

America is on the brink of destruction if the vitriol between candidates in the November national election continues.

Political analysts warn the tug of war between Donald Trump, the Republican Party candidate, and Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party standard bearer, is pointing to a critical crossroad for the United States, like times leading up to the Civil War.

“I feel like we’re in this moment that is comparable perhaps in some ways rhetorically to 1859, 1860, and even though I think that, I hope that cooler heads will prevail,” said Tim Wise, anti-racism activist and author. 

“I wouldn’t put all my money on that, and I certainly think we need to be ready for some pretty ugly days ahead, regardless of what happens on Nov. 8,” Mr. Wise told The Final Call.

Divided politics, divided country

Minister Louis Farrakhan speaks on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Presidential Election. https://www.noi.org/webcast1030

The hostile political climate is shaping up to similar tensions in the 1800s rooted in national division along ideological lines. The Civil War is a central event in American history fought primarily over the question of slavery.

Today the country is divided against itself at another critical juncture, which Dr. Wilmer Leon, host of “Inside the Issues” heard on Sirius-XM Radio, agrees is like a new civil war.


“The fear amongst predominately high school educated, White males is that the White privilege that they were told they were entitled to is no longer a privilege,” said Dr. Leon. “These are the White people that the real White people left behind,” he said.


Dr. Leon sees the animosity as a carryover of barefaced racism and proverbial shock of the hour over the 2008 election of President Barack Obama.


In the closing days of Mr. Obama’s presidency with the rough and tumble campaign to replace him, concerns from the White demographic are prominent in political discourse, but included in the national conversation are voices of Whites that have been called the fringe element on the right.  The racial dynamic of having a Black president the last eight years has pushed these voices to the front. 


Those voices include segments of White America, which now comprise the Trump machine, and who have figured out that they are unlikely of winning elections, at least at the national level by normal democratic means, said Mr. Wise.  Except for a few Whites, most people aren’t into the “alt-right,” he said.


His fear has always been that segment would look around and say what many are saying right now: “If Hillary Clinton wins, it’s time for revolution. It’s time for armed struggle. It’s time for assassination.”


Mr. Trump stated during the Oct. 19 presidential debate that he would keep America in suspense when asked whether he would accept the outcome of the 2016 election. The next day he said he’d accept the outcome if he wins.


His remarks came days after he told supporters Ms. Clinton wants to destroy their Second Amendment right, the right to bear arms, and that it “would be very dangerous” if her bodyguards’ guns were taken away.
                    

Observers say Blacks vote overwhelmingly Democratic, despite no significant change in government policies since the civil rights acts of the 1960s. Photos: MGN Online



Mr. Wise hopes it’s all talk, and doesn’t believe it’s most of Mr. Trump’s supporters.  But even if it’s 10 percent, that means about 40 million votes, 10 percent who are “locked, loaded, and dangerous,” he said.


They are committed to the notion that somehow their country is being stolen by people of color, by Muslims, by liberals, by feminists, by gays and lesbians, the cabal of global bankers or whatever it is that Mr. Trump is saying, Mr. Wise added. He is also Caucasian.


Racial animus and armed revolution?
Income stagnation and census projects Whites will be an American minority by 2047, which has given rise to scapegoating Blacks and Latinos.


Many Whites believe under President Obama, resources were wasted on “lazy, shiftless” minorities, Dr. Leon said.  Their disdain manifested in an increase of gun sales, hate groups and extrajudicial police killings of Blacks, he said.


Experts say White anti-government “patriot” groups reached an unprecedented 1,360 organizations in 2012, and hard core hate groups have risen to more than 1,000.


Dr. Leon stated, “It’s a class issue driven by race.” Whites would choose war between themselves or against the government before being the underdog, he predicted. Whites feel victimized, marginalized and in a state of decline after centuries of rule and enjoying a privileged position. 
                    

President Barack Obama



Some analysts also surmise that some Whites are in a precarious situation, fighting for their place in a changing America.  Their struggle is returning to a time when White supremacy ruled unchallenged. Their discontent is grown more malicious and extreme.


Boiled down into one phrase, the history of America is the history of rich, White men telling working class and lower middle class poor White people that their problems are Brown folks, Mr. Wise said.


‘Race realism’
“I think in general terms, White people are not treated fairly,” said Henry Wolff, assistant editor of the online “American Renaissance Magazine” dedicated to White nationalism. “White men especially are the kind of one group that you are allowed to disparage,” he told The Final Call.


Mr. Wolff advocates “race realism” and lifting the subject of “White identity” among White people. He argues Whites are resistant to talking openly and honestly about the issue. 


Mr. Trump resonates with White nationalists and extremists and is regarded as a last hope.
There is apprehension about how far Mr. Trump and his supporters would go to gain power if defeated. Trailing and upsetting the Republican establishment, with no indicators show him conceding anything, Mr. Trump has already created a kind of political crisis.


A choice between two evils
The Republican Party surely will squash Mr. Trump once he loses the election, predicted Yoele Haile, political director of the Afrikan Black Coalition, a collective of Black Student Unions throughout California.


“At some point, I believe they’re going to employ their law and order tactic against their own and put him down, because what he’s doing so far is detrimental to their agenda, because he is exposing all the things they say and do in private,” Mr. Haile told The Final Call.


As Blacks are concerned, this is a White affair, and the more they fight and weaken each other, the stronger the chance Blacks have at dealing with Whites Mr. Haile said.


Both candidate’s lack of popularity have increased attention and support for third political parties in the race for presidency, such as the Green Party, which Mr. Haile said he wished would focus on local rather than presidential elections. The latter is so rigged, it’s almost impossible to do anything, he stated. 
                    


“In places like California where I think there is an opportunity to go the grassroots level and take over the school boards, city councils, and county supervisor positions, and some district state assembly seats, I think if the Green Party’s serious, that’s where it needs to turn its attention to,” Mr. Haile said.


On the presidential level, the best they could hope for is an alternative discussion, but not material impact on people’s lives, he argued.


Millennials, considered a driving force in these elections, know Mr. Trump is a fascist, and Ms. Clinton’s a war monger, he said.  She’s maybe an inch better than Mr. Trump, but it’s no change to the system, he said.


The Afrikan Black Collective is focusing on ballot measures it believes will have immediate impact, such as the death penalty, sentencing, and parole eligibility. 


“In terms of the national presidential elections, it’s just a lost cause for us,” said Mr. Haile.
“Here we are now at the time of one of the most fateful elections in the history of America,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan during his Oct. 16 keynote speech for the 21st anniversary of the Million Man March and Holy Day of Atonement in Atlanta. 


“In this political season, we have two people:  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  Mr. Trump calls Hillary ‘Crooked Hillary,’ and then from the other side, he is called ‘Lying Trump,’ ” Min. Farrakhan said.


The Muslim leader spoke to the divisive presidential campaign and upheaval as the American people are asked to choose between “liars” and the lesser of two evils. However, the Black, Brown, Red and many poor Whites are in the middle, and their conditions remain the same, regardless of which party that wins elections, he said.


Minister Farrakhan advocates the position of his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam, who called for separation and advised to “vote for Allah (God) to be your ruler and come follow me.”


“If I have to vote for Satan or Lucifer, I don’t have much of a choice there.  I would rather vote for Christ,” Minister Farrakhan said. 


It is going to be rough, regardless of who wins, said Opio Sokoni, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based activist and professor. 


Mr. Trump is employing tactics used by some international strong men, where he’s setting things up since he’s figured he won’t win the election, he said.


Alleging the election is rigged, getting people riled up, threatening violence, are all things which ultimately tear smaller countries apart, Dr. Sokoni pointed out.


“He’s doing that, but because the elections here are a bit decentralized, it’s kind of hard to do some major rigging of elections,” Dr. Sokoni stated.


“It’s all interesting stuff, but when you have somebody like a Donald Trump, it’s interesting because he’s basically breaking his party up. It could make his party better, greater, or even worse,” said the Florida-based analyst. 


America can find peace, but a concerted effort on all parts is required, said Helen Butler, executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and convener of the Georgia Black Women’s Roundtable and Board of Elections.


That would require a state-by-state, community by community strategy, she said.


“The thing is, a lot of people are talking about dead people. Dead people are not voting,” Ms. Butler said. The voters rolls are purged, and there’s no way for many dead people to be on the rolls, unless somebody died 90 days before the elections and would still be on the list, she explained.


Use paper ballots, not provisional ballots or machines, to allay the fears of those concerned about fraud, she suggested.


Distrust in failed politics
The current racial climate in America is no different than it has always been, said Bob Law, legendary radio broadcaster, and national political activist.


Mr. Trump is uncovering more of the animus, he told The Final Call.  “People are saying the country is polarized, but not with racism, but that’s not true. It’s the racism that’s making it polarized,” Mr. Law said. Black or White, elected officials have failed to serve the people, he said.


“Blacks in office is just symbolism, because they don’t offer policy change and empowerment for Blacks. Many of our people don’t participate in the political process, because they have not ever got anything from it, and, they have little trust in politicians because they have performed poorly to the people who needed them the most,” continued Mr. Law.


It’s time for Blacks to step back into the forefront of struggle, he said.  “We might not see justice in our life time, but we are willing to continue to fight for it?” Mr. Law asked.