TUSKEGEE, Ala. — Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Friday that the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center is wrong when it says he leads a hate organization.
Farrakhan told high school and college students Friday at Tuskegee University that his organization shouldn't be lumped together with the Ku Klux Klan. He says he has never done anything to cause white people to live in fear like the Klan has done to blacks.bjoh
The director of public relations for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Dana Vickers Shelley, said Farrakhan's talk of separation does not move the nation forward.
Farrakhan, 79, has over the years denied claims of anti-Semitism, arguing his remarks are often taken out of context and that criticism of Jews in any light automatically earns the "anti-Semite" label. The Nation of Islam has espoused black nationalism and self-reliance since it was founded in the 1930s, though in recent years it has included other groups, including Latinos and immigrants.
Farrakhan spent much of his speech encouraging young people to respect their bodies and avoid alcohol, drugs and tobacco.
During the speech, Farrakhan questioned why some Macon County school children were unable to attend his speech. Several students from area high schools at the event said they were not provided transportation, but no one told them they could not attend,
Someone who answered the phone at the Macon County superintendent's office but did not identify himself said students were not encouraged or discouraged from attending the event.
Daphne Calhoun, a 17-year-old junior at Tuskegee's Booker T. Washington High School, said she was inspired by Farrakhan's speech.
"He inspired me to believe in myself," Calhoun said.
Calhoun said no one discouraged her from attending the event.
Farrakhan started his more than hour-long speech by asking some of the high school students to stand up and tell him what they wanted to do with their lives.
Joa Harkless of Tuskegee is a junior at St. Jude school in Montgomery. She said she wants to join the Air Force after she finishes college.
"I was really glad he wanted to know what I wanted to do," she said
When one girl said she wants to go into forensic sciences, Farrakhan said she might be able to use her career choice to free people from prison "who may not be guilty."
Farrakhan said he recognized that most of the students from Tuskegee probably come from low-income homes, but said they should not let that deter them from fulfilling their dreams.
"Jesus came from humble beginnings. There's nothing more humble that being born in a stable," Farrakhan said,
Farrakhan told the mostly black audience that it's OK to be black. He said he's tired of seeing blacks use creams and bleaches to make themselves look white.
He repeatedly told the women in the audience to avoid trouble.
"Women, hold on to your virtue," he said. "Being virtuous is more valuable that silver or gold."
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, March 23rd 2013 at 5:21PM
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