What he said.
Posted on 10/15/2005 6:48:02 PM PDT by indcons
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan accused the federal government of "criminal neglect" for its slow response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during a rally on Saturday marking the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March.
Speaking to thousands of African-Americans gathered on the National Mall, he also urged minorities and the poor to work together to improve their lives.
In his speech, the highlight of the daylong event, Farrakhan asked why the government did a better job helping the citizens of Florida last year, and why so few lives were lost, when the state was hit by four major hurricanes.
"I believe that we can charge the government with criminal neglect," he said. "I firmly believe that if the people on those rooftops (in New Orleans) had blond hair and blue eyes and pale skin, something would have been done in a more timely manner. We charge America with criminal neglect," he said from the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
There has been renewed attention on race relations in recent weeks, after Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and devastated the lower Ninth Ward, which was largely populated by black and poor residents.
Farrakhan also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security should be sued.
"I think we need to look at a class action (law)suit on behalf of the citizens of New Orleans who have lost everything, and the government is not acting responsibly to give them back what they have lost and return them to their homes," he said.
MILLIONS MORE MOVEMENT
This year's event, known as the "Millions More Movement," was a stark contrast to 1995, when only black men were invited to participate to promote black self-reliance and responsibility. On Saturday, women and other minorities were invited, attended and spoke to the crowd.
"For a few years it was good for the men to come out for themselves -- to atone -- but now we need to come together," said Jamillia Lawrence, 35, of Atlantic City.
"This march, particularly, it was for families. It just came from a need. This is what the need is, to have more unity in our families," she said, citing gang violence and black children going astray, with no structure in their families.
Farrakhan, who organized the 1995 event and has made controversial statements in the past, told the crowd that African-Americans should work together to improve their lives.
"The more we are organized, the more we can generate power to change reality. The more we unify, the more power we can generate to change reality," he said.
Farrakhan also urged other minorities and the poor to unite.
"The time has never been more ripe for a strategic relationship between the black, the brown, the Native American and the poor of this nation and the world," he said.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate who also addressed the crowd, called for a move away from violence and for millions to fight against poverty, illiteracy and the kind of suffering that befell the poor in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
"Don't imitate the violence, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Arabism, gay bashing," he told the crowd. "We need ... millions more to build a multiracial coalition, we need not battle alone to fight poverty and greed and war."
The event appeared smaller than the Million Man March, with crowds dispersed between the U.S. Capitol steps across to the grassy Mall. A decade ago, hundreds of thousands stretched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.
The speaker list read like the who's who? of the moonbats - Jesse Jackson, Sheila Jackson Lee (who wants hurricanes to be named after black people so that they feel "included," Erikah Badu (she had to be almost forced off stage because she loved hogging the limelight so much), Maulana Karenga (the founder of Kwanzaa), Mallik Shabaaz (New Black Panthers Party). Shabazz repeated the charge that the Feds blew up the levees in order to committ genocide!! A laugh riot mostly.
Have to leap over Mayor and Governor first.
the moonbat alert is pretty much redundant when farakhan's name is already in the title. :)
Gee, no one saw THAT coming.
Especially from the leader of the Multi-Man March.
Ummmmm......they are Dimocrats. We know that's never going to happen.
Good point :)
What he said.
This Idiot in all his "wisdom" does not realize that one can not sue the Government...period.
Do not get me wrong, I would like that idea, but it will never happened.
No one has more opportunity for advancement in this country than blacks. All they have to do is take advantage of a free education, study hard, get good grades and they'll get a scholarship to college.
I'm amused that Oprah has suddenly discovered poverty in America. How many millions has she given away to Africa?
She was born in Mississippi and, by her own admission, grew up poor, did she not consider with all her pay it forward stuff about reaching back down to Mississippi and helping some of the people there? or, is it easier to chastise the white man over the poverty?
Seems we have boatloads of idiots for the "Running of the Out There" contest this year.
He wanted to sue FEMA and DHS.
This Idiot in all his "wisdom" does not realize that one can not sue the Government...period.
Ah, but one can sue the government. You just have to obtain permission first.
OK, I got this from Rush's website - this is real, guys. It is from an interview with David Asnan of Fox.
CALYPSO LOUIE (Farakhan): I was in a tiny village in Tepoztlan in Mexico on the 17th of September, 1985, and I had a vision-like experience climbing a mountain there on the top of which is a temple to the Mesoamerican Christ figure, Quetzalcoatl. And one of these little UFOs came over that mountain, and I was signaled from a group of persons to come, and I was beamed up into that small vehicle and carried to a larger vehicle where I heard the voice of my leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Mohammed saying these words to me.
In early September, the president met with his Joint Chiefs of Staff to plan a war. He didn't tell me who the war was against or what not, but later in the next -- early in the next year, it came to me while I was in Ghana that this war was against Libya and Libya's leader, Moammar Khadafy. So I went there and warned him of what was about to take place, and it did take place.
Beam Screwy Farrakhan back up to the mothership. Then blow it out of the sky. LOL
I was really surprised at the strident Islamic tone during a large part of the rally. It was Allahu Akbar, bismillahs, and salaam aleikums all around.
Just emailed the puke to ask him about Nagin, Blanco and Broussard.
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