By Bonnie Squires
Usually, I am ready to give the benefit of the doubt to someone who has done something really terrible. Not to Donald Trump, however. But I found it difficult to understand how Minister Rodney Muhammad, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, could have posted an offensive anti-Semitic picture and message on his Facebook page.
Even worse, when called out by dozens of Black and Jewish elected officials and community leaders for his offensive Facebook post, he made several statements but never actually apologized.
Governor Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and Mayor Jim Kenney are among the growing chorus of voices who have demanded either that Muhammad resign or that he be removed from his post as president of the Philly chapter of the NAACP.
A recent press conference addressing the anti-Semitic posting by Minister Muhammad was arranged by Shira Goodman, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Steve Rosenberg, CO-COO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
You have to understand, that the national, state and local entities under the NAACP all subscribe to their national mission:
“Our mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. And we’ve been doing it since 1909.”
And for the most part, the NAACP acts in accord with that mission. The ADL has a similar mission statement: “Since our founding in 1913, ADL has worked tirelessly to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” That translates into speaking out against racism, sexism, and a lot of other “isms” in addition to antisemitism.
Perhaps Minister Muhammad does not know that several Jewish lawyers were among the founders of the NAACP. But his worship of Louis Farrakhan has certainly twisted his thinking. And changed his belief in the mission of the organization he has been elected to lead.
Oh, at the press conference (virtual, as it was) were thirteen Black and Jewish elected officials and community leaders. Most of them called for Minister Rodney Muhammad to apologize for an anti-Semitic image he posted on his Facebook page recently. Some even demanded that Muhammad resign or be removed from his post. State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a Philadelphia Democrat, said he would no longer work with the local NAACP if Muhammad remains in charge.
“I cannot accept anything less … than an apology and, frankly, stepping out of the way,” Williams said in the conference call.
Now nationally, ADL and the NAACP have worked together on a number of projects and action items and are doing so even as you read this. But people are disappointed that the national NAACP, although reprimanding Muhammad for the vicious meme he posted, refrained from asking him to leave his post.
Muhammad had already faced calls for his resignation after posting and later deleting the image Friday. It showed photos of Ice Cube, DeSean Jackson, and Nick Cannon above a caricature of a hook-nosed, yarmulke-wearing figure on the sleeve of an unseen person who is crushing a mass of people with a ring-bedecked hand.
The image included a quote — “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize” — often misattributed to Voltaire. The quote has been traced to a neo-Nazi convicted on a federal child pornography charge in 2008.
The NAACP Mainline Branch and the NAACP PA State Conference each put out statements condemning Muhammad.
The Rev. Kenneth Huston, president of the Pennsylvania conference of the NAACP, and others on the call said they hoped Muhammad’s misdeed would further mobilize the combined efforts of groups combating racism and bigotry. Huston said his group is in “deep conversation” with the NAACP’s national leadership about Muhammad.
Muhammad, in an interview Friday, said he paid no attention to the image in his post. He has not apologized for sharing it.
“If the image of that man on that sleeve is offensive, then you’re opening me up to a sensibility,” he said. “I’m not going to share it anymore.”
Steve Rosenberg of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia again called on Muhammad to resign during Tuesday’s conference call. “We cannot allow this type of behavior from anyone, much less a leader of one of our nation’s most prolific and important civil rights organizations,” he said.
Ryan Boyer, business manager for the Laborers’ District Council, said he told Muhammad the Facebook post was “evil.” “It dehumanizes people,” Boyer said. “It’s hurtful.”
State Sen. Sharif Street, a Philadelphia Democrat, noted that the local NAACP leader is elected by the group’s membership. “There will be a reckoning for this, either now or in the future,” he said.
City Counci lmember Jamie Gauthier said Muhammad “has repeatedly displayed his lack of compassion and understanding of the dangers of Antisemitism.”
“The idea that a civil rights leader would not just share [an] anti-Semitic message, but then refuse to take ownership of it and apologize, it’s not just disappointing, it’s completely unacceptable,” she said.
The Philadelphia Tribune, the leading Black community newspaper, said the meme Muhammad shared on July 24 showed photos of Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, rapper Ice Cube and TV host Nick Cannon, all of whom have made anti-Semitic statements recently and faced criticism. Below those photos appeared a caricature of a Jewish man with a large nose and black beard who was wearing a yarmulke. The Jewish man’s image was imposed on the sleeve of an unseen person whose hand, which has a large jeweled ring on it, is pressing down on a pile of bodies.
A quote on the meme, which was misattributed to French philosopher and writer Voltaire, actually was said by a white nationalist and Holocaust denier. Both Jackson and Nick Cannon have since apologized for having their photos on such an anti-Semitic graphic.
Muhammad did not exactly apologize, although he has issued several statements because of the unceasing publicity and anger about his Facebook posting. By the way, how come Facebook did not refuse to carry this anti-Semitic garbage? But that is another discussion altogether.