Congressman blows a chance to denounce Farrakhan’s hateful words

Louis Farrakhan, hate-spewing leader of the Nation of Islam, gave a speech in Chicago recently in which he attacked “powerful Jews” and portrayed himself as an enemy of white people. “White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew,” he told a large audience gathered at Wintrust Arena for the Nation’s Saviours’ Day event on Feb. 25. Farrakhan included other anti-Semitic remarks in his speech, the same type of bilge he’s preached for years. A 2015 report by the Anti-Defamation League chronicled Farrakhan’s long history of repellent views.

Farrakhan is the ill-informed leader of a large organization. It’s important that his comments be condemned by other influential voices in the community, such as a member of Chicago’s congressional delegation. But when The Daily Caller, a conservative publication, asked Rep. Danny Davis, D-Chicago, the congressman laughed off his close relationship with Farrakhan, saying he had no problem with him and wasn’t concerned by Farrakhan’s anti-Semitism.

“That’s just one segment of what goes on in our world,” Davis told The Daily Caller. “The world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and the Jewish question and his position on that and so forth. For those heavy into it, that’s their thing, but it ain’t my thing.”

Davis’ words were thoughtless and irresponsible. He responded later with a strong statement condemning anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred. He also attacked The Daily Caller for trying to impugn his character. But as our colleague John Kass noted in a column, what Davis didn’t do in his three-paragraph March 5 statement is criticize or even mention Farrakhan. Not a word. That leaves Davis open to the charge that he’s complicit in Farrakhan’s bigotry.