Uechi-Ryu.com

Would you care to declare who Farrakhan is and what he stands for, Panther? I see his name pop up in the paper once in a while.

I'm assuming that you're referring to the Reverend Abdul Hakeem (Louis) Farrakhan who is the leader of the "Nation of Islam" more commonly known in this country as the "Black Muslims".

According to his official (ahem) Nation of Islam biography:

<blockquote>Louis Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Walcott on May 11, 1933, in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was reared in a highly disciplined and spiritual household. Raised by his mother, a native of St. Kitts, Louis and his brother Alvin learned early the value of work, responsibility and intellectual development. Having a strong sensitivity to the plight of black people, his mother engaged her sons in conversations about the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. She also exposed them to progressive material such as the Crisis Magazine, published by the NAACP.

Recognizing her son's artistic talent, young Louis was given a violin before his sixth birthday and began years of formal training financed by his mother's hard work as both seamstress and housekeeper. By age 13, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra and the Boston Civic Symphony. The talent of young Louis was given national exposure at age 14 when he won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. He was also one of the first blacks to appear on the popular show.

Graduating from high school at age 16, he earned an athletic scholarship for his prowess as a track sprinter and attended Winston-Salem Teachers' College in North Carolina, excelling in the study of English.

During his senior year in September 1953, he married his childhood sweetheart. Shortly thereafter, he left college to begin a family, making a living by using his talent as a performing artist.

Popularly known as "The Charmer," he achieved fame in Boston as a vocalist, calypso singer, dancer, and violinist. However, February 1955 marked a turning point in the life of Louis Walcott. While headlining a show in Chicago entitled "Calypso Follies" the young virtuoso received rave reviews. During this engagement one of his friends from Boston invited him to attend the Nation of Islam's Saviours' Day Convention, to be held at the newly purchased Muhammad's Temple No. 2 at 4335 S. Greenwood Avenue.

Minister Malcolm X was informed that the popular musician would attend the convention. While listening to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad from his balcony seat, Louis thought to himself, "This man can't speak," referring to Mr. Muhammad's grammar. As these thoughts crossed the future leader's mind, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad looked up in the balcony and said, "Don't pay no 'attention to how I say it. Pay attention to what I say, then take it and put it into that fine language that you know."

Although music had been his first love, within three months after joining the Nation of Islam in 1955, Minister Malcolm X told the New York Mosque and the new convert Louis X that Elijah Muhammad had said that all Muslims would have to get out of show business or get out of the Temple. Most of the musicians left Temple No. 7 but Louis X, later renamed Louis Farrakhan, chose to dedicate his life to the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad.

After moving to Boston at the request of Malcolm X, Louis X proved himself a capable, disciplined, and a well-mannered soldier and eventually rose to the rank of Minister. He worked faithfully from 1956 as the Minister of Muhammad Temple No. 11 in Boston, Massachusetts, building it to become one of the strongest Temples in the Nation.

In May of 1965, three months after the death of Malcolm X, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad appointed Minister Farrakhan to Temple No. 7 in New York City. When he arrived in New York the atmosphere was very hostile because of allegations of Muslim involvement in the assassination of Malcolm X.

Minister Farrakhan worked night and day in the Harlem community and around New York restoring respect for the Nation.

The departure of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in 1975 and the assumption of leadership by Wallace D. Muhammad (now known as Imam Warrithuddin Mohammed) brought drastic changes to the Nation. After approximately 3 years of wrestling with the changes to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, Minister Farrakhan, after a re-appraisal of the condition of black people and the program of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, decided to return to the teachings and program with a proven ability to uplift and reform blacks.

His tremendous success is evidenced by mosques and study groups in over 80 cities in America, Great Britain and a mission in Ghana devoted to the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Minister Farrakhan has renewed respect for the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, his teachings and program, in rebuilding the Nation.

Literally millions of listeners have attended his lectures and he has been welcomed in church after church, sharing pulpits with Christian ministers from a variety of denominations showing the power of the unity of those who believe in the One God.

The father of 9, with 23 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren, Minister Farrakhan still maintains a grueling work schedule.

He has addressed diverse organizations, been received in many Muslim countries as a leading Muslim thinker and teacher, and been welcomed throughout Africa, the Caribbean and Asia as a champion in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

In 1985, Minister Farrakhan introduced the POWER concept and in 1986 introduced a line of personal care products and a program for black economic development. In 1979, he developed The Final Call, an internationally circulated newspaper that follows in the line of The Muhammad Speaks.

In 1988, the resurgent Nation of Islam repurchased its former flagship Mosque in Chicago and dedicated it as Mosque Maryam, the National Center for Re-training and Re-education of the Black Man and Woman of America and the World. The National Center includes a preschool and K-12 University of Islam.

Also in 1991, Minister Farrakhan re-introduced the Three Year Economic Program to establish an economic base for the development of blacks through business ventures. In 1992, Minister Farrakhan drew 60,000 people to the Atlanta Dome for the Nation's annual Saviours' Day celebration.

In May 1993, Minister Farrakhan traveled to Libreville, Gabon, to attend the Second African-African American Summit where he addressed African heads of state and delegates from America. In October of 1994, Minister Farrakhan led 2,000 blacks from America to Accra, Ghana for the Nation's first International Savior's Day. Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings officially opened and closed the five-day convention.

The popular leader and the Nation have repurchased farmland in Dawson, Georgia, and enjoyed a banner year in 1995 with opening of the $5 million Salaam Restaurant in Chicago and the successful Million Man March on Washington. Minister Farrakhan continued his quest for unity and progress by going on a World Friendship Tour of Africa and the Middle East in early 1996. He was received by heads of states in several countries, among them South African President Nelson Mandela and Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

As part of the major thrust for true political empowerment for the black community, Minister Farrakhan re-registered to vote in June 1996 and has formed a coalition of religious, civic and political organizations to represent the voice of the disenfranchised on the political landscape.</blockquote>


If you wish, I could give another version which isn't a virtuous, embellished, and carefully worded PR piece...

Jesse Jackson is of the same ilk. There is a new book out called "Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson". The book takes a 'candid' look at the myth and the man. I suspect that Farrakan will fall into the same catagory.

Well... Now that Rose-Sensei has spoiled the teaser...

Although Farrakhan is the leader of the "Nation of Islam" (NOI), he is notMuslim, nor is his doctrine Islam. While he and that groups followers call themselves Muslim, the reality is that they have very little to do with the faith of Islam. We could get into the dubious history and beliefs of that organization, but you asked about one man... Louis Eugene Walcott aka Calyspo Louie aka Louis X aka Abdul Haleem (Louis) Farrakhan.

I shouldn't "declare" who Farrakhan is, but many believe that he is a demagogue, a self professed Prohpet of God. He has made many racist remarks against whites, homosexuals, women, religious and other groups (including the NAACP). His own words show his anti-semitism and he once stated that "Hitler was a very great man". Regarding what he stands for, his own words tell plenty.

<hr>

<blockquote>"They [the Jews] are the greatest controllers of Black minds, Black intelligence. They write the scripts -- the foolish scripts on television that our people portray. They are the movie moguls that feature us in these silly, degrading, degenerate roles. The great recording companies that portray our people in such a filthy and low-rating way, yet they would not allow such a man as Michael Jackson to say one word that they thought would besmirch their reputation, but they put us before the world as clowns and as purveyors of filth. No, I will fight that."

Meet The Press interview, 10/18/98

"Of course, they [the Jews] have a very small number of people but they are the most powerful in the world, they have the power to do good and they have the power to do evil...Now what do the Jews do best? Well, they have been the best in finance that the world has ever known...They finance a lot of stuff in the world, and there's nothing wrong with that, but they are not good politicians, they are the worst politicians because they don't recognize really their friends and as well their enemies..."

Saviours' Day Speech, Chicago, 2/22/98

"I believe that for the small numbers of Jewish people in the United States, they exercise a tremendous amount of influence on the affairs of government...Yes, they exercise extraordinary control, and Black people will never be free in this country until they are free of that kind of control..."

Meet The Press interview, 4/14/97

"To continue to point out the truth of that control and how that control never will allow us to be full and completely men, free, justified, and equal. Why should we be controlled by the power, influence, and money of others? We should not be under that kind of control...going to Jewish philanthropists, begging them for money to support our causes, and through that money, there is control, and that kind of control limits the freedom of our people to speak freely, write freely, think freely, and act as free men..."

Meet The Press interview, 4/14/97

"And you do with me as is written, but remember that I have warned you that Allah will punish you. You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of you that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell. But I warn you in the name of Allah, you would be wise to leave me alone. But if you choose to crucify me, know that Allah will crucify you."

Saviours' Day Speech, Chicago, 2/25/96

"I don't own Hollywood. Who depicted Black people? Who writes the books? Who writes the plays, the songs that make us look less than human? Do you mean to tell me that Jews have never done any evil to Black people?...Were they not involved in the slave trade? Yes, they were...and to the extent that they were involved, somebody has to bring them to account. And I believe that has fallen on me."

Interview with New York Amsterdam News, 1/8/94

Mentioning National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and presidential advisor Rahm Emanuel, Farrakhan said, "Every Jewish person that is around the president is a dual citizen of Israel and the United States of America...And sometimes, we have to raise the question, 'Are you more loyal to the state of Israel than you are to the best interests of the United States of America.'"

News conference at the National Press Club, 10/19/98

"I look at Lucianne Goldberg, Linda Tripp, Monica Lewinsky, and I ask myself, 'Why was this introduced at this time when Netanyahu was being pressured by the president to give up more land on the West Bank,'...I think we need to look deeper into this than just what appears on the surface."

Meet The Press interview, 10/18/98

"Don't be afraid of the Zionists. Don't be afraid of their power, Mr. Clinton. Stop bowing down."

Speech at Howard University, Washington DC, 10/16/98

"They call them {Hezbollah} terrorists, I call them freedom fighters...No one asks why they would do such a thing. Why would they do such a thing? What has driven them to this point? That's what the UN, the U.S. and Europe doesn't want to deal with because the Zionists have control in England, in Europe, in the United States and around the world."

Speech at the District Council 33 Union Hall,
Philadelphia, PA, 4/22/96

"How did we get into World War II? You say Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Yes, they did, but what were the forces that created in Japan the desire or the need to force them to attack America? You don't know that. But when America went to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, she had to borrow money. There were the international bankers again. They financed all sides. And how many millions of Americans lost their lives? Suppose Hitler was trying to destroy the international bankers controlling Europe, but he went about it by attacking a whole people. All Jews are not responsible for the evil of the few who do evil...But certain Jews have used Judaism as a shield."

Saviours' Day Speech, Chicago, 2/26/95

"German Jews financed Hitler right here in America...International bankers financed Hitler and poor Jews died while big Jews were at the root of what you call the Holocaust...Little Jews died while big Jews made money. Little Jews [were] being turned into soap while big Jews washed themselves with it. Jews [were] playing violin, Jews [were] playing music, while other Jews [were] marching into the gas chambers..."

Mosque Maryam, Chicago, 3/19/95

"They [Israel] wouldn't allow me to go to Jerusalem. If I had gone they might have stoned me. I didn't want to repeat history. I know they stoned Jesus. I know they've killed the prophets of God there."

Saviours' Day Speech, Chicago, 2/22/98

"ntil Jews apologize for their hand in that ugly slave trade; and until the Jewish rabbis and the Talmudic scholars that made up the Hamitic myth -- that we were the children of Ham, doomed and cursed to be hewers of wood and drawers of water -- apologize, then I have nothing to apologize for."

Interview in Swing magazine, 9/24/96

"White people are potential human... they haven’t evolved yet."

Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/18/00

According to a journalist's account, "Farrakhan called 'the white man' the 'anti-Christ' to rousing applause."

Jackson, MS, 9/19/97, Clarion-Ledger, 9/21/97

"It is not accidental that the Black male is in the condition he is in..." This is because of a "...conspiracy of our government against the Black male"

Meet The Press interview, 10/12/97

The Final Call (September 2, 1997) reported that "he {Farrakhan} said Blacks in America are under a 'death decree' from the U.S. government but America is under a 'decree of death' from God." (Baltimore, August 15, 1997) He also told that same audience that there is a "conspiracy to dumb you down."

(Note: Final Call is the newspaper of the Nation of Islam)

"A decree of death has been passed on America. The judgement of God has been rendered and she must be destroyed..."

New York Amsterdam News, 8/14-20/97
Harlem, NY, 8/9/97

"...I think that when you warehouse Black men in prisons and they have a sexual drive that is being titillated by the lyrics and by the cultural degeneracy that pervades America today, this sexual need is sometimes filled with activity that God disapproves of."

Meet The Press interview, 10/12/97

"It seems like being gay or whatever sin you wish to be a part of is okay...but I have the duty to lift that gay person up to the standard to ask if they want to live the life that God wants them to or live the lifestyle that they want to live."

Boston speech, 8/7/97
</blockquote>

People like farrakan, jackson and the other little troll...what's his name..oh yeah sharpton call themselves 'leaders of their people'. One could easily argue that they are not only abusing their influence but also doing great harm to the people they profess to be helping. How much of their dogma do they really believe..


funny how fools listen when fools speak.

Sorry I started something and wasn't able to get back here for awhile.

Tracy, do you have a copy of Shakedown?

------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

I always found it rather surprising to find how African Americans moved to Islam and the pseudo-Islamic teachings of groups like the Nation of Islam.

The vast majority of slave traders in the slave markets in Africa (and many of whom also ran slaving raids into the interior) were Muslims and/or devout followers of Islam.

Does the movement to Islamic and pseudo-Islam seem strange to anybody else? It does to me.

With utter, honest bafflement,

Lee Darrow, C.Ht.

Those three whom T. Rose mentioned are there because they filled a leadership void.


------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

I haven't been impressed with much that's come out of Islam, except for the Nation's ability to clean up addicts, and instill pride in their members (why can't people learn to feel good about themselves without puting other people down?)

But I don't see that it matters if slave sellers were Islamic. All the slave buyers were Christian, and few people (and here I'm mostly talking about white christians) had a problem with the majority of them converting to Christianity. They did recognize the good in the religion even when those they learned it from did not.

The same goes for Islam; good could be found in a religion even if some practitioners are evil, especially if that evil is hundreds of years dead. Malcolm X described (accodring to his biography as told to Alex Haley) that the first white people he realized did not judge him by his skin color were islamic. He described learning at that point it wasn't white people but what American whites had been taught that was the problem. Hard to find a problem with that...

Great post panther.. intelligent, well thought out, documented and to the point. One day I will meet you and the beers are on me.


[This message has been edited by T Rose (edited September 04, 2002).]

Rose-Sensei,

Am I correct that you have a dojo on rte 9 in Shrewsbury? If so, please e-mail me at: kincaid@datalynxconsulting.com

I have some questions for you...

Thanks

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ian:
But I don't see that it matters if slave sellers were Islamic. All the slave buyers were Christian, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

According to Farrakhan, the slave trade was caused by the Jews. The fact is that in this regards there is plenty of blame to go around, even including the selling of slaves by various tribes in Africa. It was a common practice to raid the neighboring tribe and sell the captives into slavery. Greed knows no color or religion...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote

The same goes for Islam; good could be found in a religion even if some practitioners are evil, especially if that evil is hundreds of years dead. Malcolm X described (accodring to his biography as told to Alex Haley) that the first white people he realized did not judge him by his skin color were islamic. He described learning at that point it wasn't white people but what American whites had been taught that was the problem. Hard to find a problem with that...

I must point out a few things here...

1) A.I. Palmer, author of The Nation of Islam Exposed writes:

<blockquote>The "Nation of Islam" is not the religion of Islam. The followers of the "Nation of Islam" (NOI) are not muslim and their faith has very little to do with that religion. Islam believes in the total transcendance of almighty God (called in Arabic, Allaah), the NOI teaches that black people are angelic gods. Islam maintains universal brotherhood, the NOI says that Islam is for blacks only. Islam teaches that prophethood ended with Muhammad ibn Abdullah, more than 1400 years ago. The NOI teaches that Farrakhan's teacher, Elijah Muhammad, is the last prophet. Islam teaches principles of spiritual and moral decorum such as prayer, fasting, charity, pilgimage, etc., Elijah Muhammad cast these out or altered them beyond recognition.

Yet, it is an error to oversimplify the issue by denouncing Farrakhan's racist diatribes while playing down Farrakhan's God-is-a-man and Prophet-after-Muhammad beliefs. Racism has very little to do with the issue. Sure, racism is contrary to Islamic principles and Islam rejects it. However, the deviation of Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan are MUCH more serious than racism. It is the sin which Allah DOES NOT forgive. If Farrakhan would leave his man-is-god and prophet-after-Muhammad beliefs, but was still a raving racist, he would be much better off than the other way around! Let me say very clearly, that there is NO ideology on the face of this earth which could be farther from Islam than that of Louis Farrakhan. NONE!

The NOI's origins are found in

(a) two black self-improvement movements that began shortly before World War I: the "Moorish Science Temple of America," founded in 1913 by Timothy Drew, and the "Universal Negro Improvement Association," founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey.

(b) the NOI was also shaped by a Depression-era con-man, and convicted drugdealer, Wallace Dodd Ford. Upon Ford's 1929 release from California's San Quintin Prison, he moved to Detroit to start a new life. Ford used a number of names, including Wali Farad and Master Fard and claimed to be from Mecca, Arabia. Being that Ford's parentage was a mixture of white and South Pacific Maori, he used his skin color and his prison con skills to pass himself off to blacks as a "mystic" and a "prophet" from the Middle East.

Working as a door-to-door rug salesman by day, Ford blended the ideas of Garvey and Drew along with a smattering of Islam, to form what would later become the Nation of Islam. Among his first students was an unemployed Georgia migrant worker, Elijah Poole, who Ford renamed "Elijah Muhammad." In later years, Ford disappeared and Elijah assumed leadership of the NOI which he held until his death in 1975.

Elijah developed an convoluted belief system based on ideas extracted from everything from Christanity to Masonry to Islam. He elevated Ford's status to that of the Creator of the heavens and earth, and he developed a myth which he dubbed, "Yacub's History." This racist doctrine is still maintained by Louis Farrakhan.

In brief, the doctrine states that the first humans, a race of black people, whom the NOI calls 'the Original Man,' created white people in a genetic experiment 6,000 years ago. Elijah claimed that they (the whites) would rule the world for 6,000 years and then be destroyed at the 'end of their time' by the blacks. He said that 'Judgement Day' means that at the 'end of time' the Gods (i.e., blacks) would destroy the entire white race (devils) and then establish a Paradise (nation) on this earth ruled forever by the blacks (i.e., Gods).

For a number of years, Farrakhan has managed to present himself as a champion for the oppressed masses, this also is a distortion. Like his teacher, Farrakhan has for more than 35 years engaged in hoodwinking blacks out of money in the name of black self improvement. The only self-improvement however, that has taken place has been for Farrakhan's family and their associates.

Additionally, his entire inspiration for the "Million Man March" is based on his alleged, "vision of being swept into a UFO that took him to a larger mothership." While in the UFO, he claims to have spoken to the late Elijah Muhammad before being beamed back to earth. (The Washington Post, Sept. 18, 1995, p. D3).

What many do not realize, is that Farrakhan has repeated this doctrine for more than 35 years! Indeed, Farrakhan's UFO "vision" is an inseparable, doctrinal link to the heretical claims of Elijah Muhammad. Elijah explained that blacks were originally, "moon people" and that the UFO "mother wheel" was piloted by 13 youths who perpetually orbited the earth, waiting to unleash global destruction on whites, while rescuing all blacks. Farrakhan to this day, teaches this same doctrine- his inspiration for the Million Man March. The Million Man March in fact, was planned with the following goals in mind:

(a) To hold it in Washington, and aim for a turnout of one million, so as to surpass the number of attendees at Martin Luther King's 1963 March on Washington, and thereafter be promoted as being greater than Dr. King and Malcolm X.

(b) By being mentioned in the same context with Dr. King, Farrakhan hopes to be remembered likewise as a charismatic, messianic black figure who commands a large and politically significant following among US blacks.

(c) To remove the cloud of suspicion which still surrounds Farrakhan regarding his involvement in Malcolm X's assassination.

(d) Most importantly, Farrakhan has to find a new way to pay for his and his family's ornate palaces in Chicago and Phoenix, his Lexus, Mercedes, Rolls Royce and Lincoln Town Cars, a Mexican villa, a new 77-acre Michigan estate and over $1.5 million dollars in unpaid back taxes. This is the reason he had an $11 registration fee, a $3.99 per minute 900 number for call-in registration (Average call is three minutes), a $700 vendor's fee, (reduced from $1000), and even ads in his newspaper soliciting for "donations" to "help defray the astronomical costs of the march," in exchange for listing the donor's name and city under appropriate categories (Platinum, Gold, etc.): $1000 or more (Platinum), $500 or more (Gold), $100 or more (Silver), $25 or more (Patron) not to mention $2 "special issues" of his 'Final Call' newspaper. Louis. A true high-tech con-man. You want to see Louie's real vison?: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

It is thus impossible for anyone to try to make a distinction between Farrakhan and his UFO inspiration, or "endorse the goals of the march without endorsing Farrakhan," or say that Farrakhan is greater than Malcolm X. Malcolm's greatness was as a result of his renouncement of Elijah's false teachings, and his acceptance of true Islam, factors which Farrakhan has yet to achieve.</blockquote>

(A.I. Palmer's new book, exposing the 65-year legacy of the NOI, is scheduled for publication soon, entitled, "The Emperor Has No Clothes.")

2) The "cloud of suspicion" of involvement with Malcolm X's assassination previously mention are due in no small part because Malcolm X, after his historic pilgrammage to the middle east, realized the error of the teachings of Elijah Muhammed and converted to true Islam! At that point, Malcolm X's views changed radically and he began embracing the true Islamic beliefs which meant that we are all brothers and sisters regardless of skin color. This became a thorn in the side of the NOI, Elijah Muhammed, and his new second-in-command Louis Farrakhan... and is generally believed (even within many members of the black community who I've spoken with) the reason that Malcolm X was assassinated and why a cloud of suspicion surrounds Farrakhan's involvement in that crime.

<hr>
While I am here, since Rose-Sensei mentioned Jesse Jackson, I might as well point out that besides the fact that Jackson has been proven to have embezzled millions of $$$$ from the "Rainbow Collition", his tales of Martin Luther King Jr. dying in his arms and showing up for a TV interview in a blood soaked shirt have been proven to have been a well-staged lie. He wasn't near the area when MLK was assassinated and the shirt was "created" for him to wear in an effort to make himself the "new legitimate leader" of the movement. Unfortunately, his ploy worked and like Farrakhan, he has spent decades swindling the black people out of millions of $$$$ for his own enjoyment/enhancement, while those same folks are struggling to make ends meet.

Unfortunately, there are many "PC" individuals who believe that only "white men" can be racist and any mention of the racist diatribes spewed forth from the Farrakhans, Jacksons and Sharptons of the world are dismissed out of hand.

Hello all. Interesting group, first time here, but will not be the last.

The African AMERICAN is a true phenomenum. They are a strong and proud people, yet they are self-oppressing, conquered people. To this day the slavery triangle has stripped them of their identity and their will to rise up. This is why these pseudo-leaders can jedi mind trick them into following their "religion". Have you seen the ministers compund in Arizona? If he was helping the people, that money would go to soup kitchens and not religious "bling bling". The "African Africans" do not see the African American as even being black. They say that "they are the sons of sharecroppers", and have no place in modern day Africa. So they exist in a place that limits their education, limits their opportunities, and admittedly allows crack into their neighbourhoods. Crack wasn't a problem until white america started going to the ghetto to buy it. I once had a discussion with an american from the south that told me that there were more black slaves in europe than there were in america. I asked him where he got that information and he said at school in history class. So the Amerikkkan government is now teaching there kids that it wasn't so bad. Being born in England it is a known fact to me that england opened it's doors to the commonwealth in the 1950's. That is when you saw blacks in europe. I refer to the "African American" as a phenomenum, because the Afro-Caribbean people are extremely proud people that do not take oppression lightly. In Jamaica there is a modernday tribe in the hills, called the Maroons. To this day they are proud of there slave heritage. When the english took the island from the spanish, the spanish freed the slaves in the jungles. The English were unable to catch them, and they celebrate this fact every year.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Leon DaDamaga:
Hello all. Interesting group, first time here, but will not be the last.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Welcome to the "Tough Issues" forum...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote

I once had a discussion with an american from the south that told me that there were more black slaves in europe than there were in america. I asked him where he got that information and he said at school in history class. So the Amerikkkan government is now teaching there kids that it wasn't so bad.

Having been born and raised in the South and being a product of the public school system there... I must tell you that we never learned any such thing! However, you will find mis-informed people from all over who think they recall learning something in school. I got into it with a friend from Massachusetts a few years back... he said that all the "Black Mammys" were the ones that taught the little white chilluns how to read in the antebellum South! I asked the same question you did and got the same response... "Learned it in school"... Naturally, it was an easily disproven assertion (just as the assertion that you recieved), by simply pointing out that it was illegal for slaves to learn to read!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote

So they exist in a place that limits their education, limits their opportunities, and admittedly allows crack into their neighbourhoods. Crack wasn't a problem until white america started going to the ghetto to buy it.

I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but the majority of people "on welfare" and living in "the projects" are white. As far as any drug problem... there shouldn't be a drug problem... leave them alone... white, black, yellow, red, brown, purple, green... I don't care... if they want to screw up their lives, let them do it... just like they do in some Scandinavian countries... Prosecute those that commit the crimes of assault and burglary... There are ways to deal with drug use rather than criminalization...

Seems a *little* short sighted just to legalize all drugs and then punish people for committing the inevitable crimes that result, doesn't it? A bunch won't be caught, and for each crime there's a victim. Feeds the rot at the centers of some communities and limits the opportunities of everyone that's born there, lives there, tries to run a business there. Contributes to *their* drug use and continuation of a cycle. Although of course it would ultimately be their *fault* that they used drugs on an individual level, rest assured that on a city wide level the resultant problems would be easily predicted.

I AM for legalizing drugs, but with the caveat that the money being wasted on intercepting drugs be turned to treatment and education and prevention, so that some of these results are avoided.