The Nation - News from May 2, 1988

Angry religious leaders said that an aide to Chicago Mayor Eugene Sawyer should be fired for making comments they viewed as racial and religious slurs against Jews and Christians. But Monroe Anderson, the mayor’s press secretary, said there was only a “very, very remote” chance that Sawyer would fire Steve Cokely, who works as a liaison with black nationalist groups, the Chicago Tribune reported. In tape-recorded lectures, from 1985 to 1987, before followers of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, Cokely said Jews have a “secret society” and plan to control the world. Cokely, 35, also criticized Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson for using Jewish aides. He also attacked Christianity, calling the cross a symbol of white supremacy.