Nick Cannon and Allen Iverson are two of the latest in a long list of celebrities and athletes promoting Louis Farrakhan. While some people seem to be surprised that so many are still defending Farrakhan, it really isn’t that surprising considering Democratic politicians have been getting away with it for years.
Congressman Daniel Davis has called him “an outstanding human being,” and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus have repeatedly met with and refused to condemn Farrakhan. Keith Ellison didn’t publicly denounce Farrakhan until 2006, and even then, he was caught lying about meetings with Farrakhan that took place after he was elected to Congress.
While running for president, Sen. Cory Booker attacked Joe Biden for working with segregationists while he himself later said he was familiar with Farrakhan’s beliefs and would be willing to sit down with him. He then had to walk that comment back: “I will not sit down with Louis Farrakhan. Period. And I reject anybody who preaches that kind of bigotry and hate towards other Americans.”
It’s a pattern that plays out all too often among Democratic politicians. It happened during Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign and in 1993 with then-head of the CBC Rep. Kweisi Mfume (who returned to Congress earlier this year). Possibly the most egregious example was then-Sen. Barack Obama posing for a picture with Farrakhan in a 2005 meeting, which the CBC then pressured the photographer to bury. They feared Farrakhan could end Obama’s presidential aspirations, and Obama knew it too, considering he offered his own denouncement of the man a few years later.
Is it any wonder then that Cannon, DeSean Jackson, and Chelsea Handler would promote a notorious anti-Semite like Farrakhan and not think twice about it? Democratic politicians have been doing it for decades, only denouncing him when put on the spot by a mainstream media often asleep at the wheel when it comes to holding Democrats accountable.
Perhaps a more forceful denunciation of Farrakhan from Democratic leaders would send a message to celebrities who still feel the need to glorify him. But alas, Democrats haven’t been all that willing to condemn anti-Semites in their own ranks.
