Bigotry Is Immoral, No Matter Who Expresses It : Race relations: African Americans must reject anti-Semitism from one of their own.

History teaches that the seeds of demagoguery take root in desperate times. For many African Americans, these are such times. Hyper-segregated black communities are plagued by high unemployment and economic devastation, by the double scourge of drugs and violence, by governmental and private-sector neglect and by the persistence of racism. Tempted by the demons of frustration and bitterness, some in the black community are giving voice to bigotry and anti-Semitic sentiments.

In late November, at a state college in New Jersey, such an individual delivered a speech, full of factual and historical misrepresentations, that vilified Jews, white people and black people who associated with them. The speaker, the Nation of Islam’s Khalid Abdul Mohammad, denounced Nelson Mandela because of his vision of multiracial post-apartheid South Africa and called for the death of every white man, woman and child who had the temerity to remain in that country. The diatribe also contained remarks offensive to Jews, Catholics, Italians, Greeks and Arabs, as well as African Americans who do not think in the prescribed manner.

Ultimately, the significance of the speech at Kean College will not be found in its substance, but in our response to it. There are those in the African American community who may find the speech repugnant but are reluctant to publicly break rank with those who preach racial pride and self-reliance. Others may resent being held collectively and personally accountable for the statements of an individual with whom they have nothing in common other than ethnicity. Some believe that a speech insulting so many people in such an outrageously vile and ignorant manner should not be underscored by more attention than it deserves, while still others do not see why its anti-Semitism should be singled out for special response. Finally, some resent what they perceive to be patronizing pressure to repudiate views that they would reject anyway.

Whatever the merits of these positions, reasonable people cannot disagree on this fact: The message of racism, anti-Semitism and hatred delivered at Kean College must be condemned. We who work daily to eliminate the blight of bigotry know that in the struggle against racism, we cannot ourselves become racist. As African Americans, we oppose bigotry not simply because we historically have been its victims; we oppose it because it is morally wrong. If we are to condemn racism, we must condemn it no matter who the victims are or who the perpetrators may be. If we want others to denounce racism when African Americans are its target, we must be equally indignant and outspoken when others are its victims. Our struggle goes beyond self-interest; it is a struggle for what is right.

We must move beyond condemnation, however, to a meaningful dialogue about racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry. We must then move beyond dialogue to attack the conditions of poverty and isolation that produce the frustration and bitterness that provide such fertile soil for the seeds of divisiveness. As long as so many African Americans are profoundly alienated from mainstream America, the rhetoric of bigotry and hatred will resonate among some.

We must call upon the better angels of our nature to realize Dr. King’s vision of a society in which “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics” can join together in a celebration of freedom. Let us meet on the high road of racial and religious tolerance and mutual respect. Only there can we transform Dr. King’s vision into reality.