Muhammad Shooting

In response to “Ex-Aide to Farrakhan Shot in Legs,” May 30:

At long last, racial and religious intolerance has become an equal opportunity employer. As a traditionalist merchant of hate, Khallid Abdul Muhammad aims his message at those who have suffered economic and social oppression. Like his intellectual forebears, he fabricates history in order to scapegoat others for the sufferings of his target audience. He seeks to dignify his message by marketing it to those in the academic community who accept his rhetoric without first submitting it to tests of reason.

Racial and religious venom comes in many colors: brown shirts, white sheets and white shirts with bow ties, to name a few. Those who seek to challenge the politics of racism must oppose it by loudly proclaiming the truth--on the campus, in the streets, and in the printed and spoken word. Only then will those who now harken to the quick fix of hate be turned to the more difficult and complicated solutions required for social and economic change.

DAVID A. SACKS

Los Alamitos

* I am a hooked-nosed Jew who managed to leave Germany in November, 1938, before the start of the Holocaust.

It seems to me that Muhammad’s polemics regarding the relative suffering of his ancestors and my people are less than productive. There is much work that needs to be done to deal with prejudice and injustice in this society. For different minorities to beat on each other is surely a waste of time and energy.

I wish Muhammad a quick recovery from the hurt inflicted on him by another individual filled with irrational hate.

OTTO M. SCHIFF

Irvine

* In his speech at UC Riverside, Khallid Abdul Muhammad stated, “I did not come here to pin the tail on the donkey, I came here to pin the tail on the honky.” Enough is enough. It is time for the Afro-American community to stop blaming the white community for our problems.

The leading cause of death in the Afro-American community, in young black males, is at the hands of another in our own race. It is time we take a good look in the mirror, because “we have met the enemy and it is us.”

WILLIAM J. GREENE

Los Angeles

* “Truth terrorist” = fascist.

STEVEN SCHOENBERG

North Hollywood

* In “Howard University Is No Bastion of Anti-Semitism” (Opinion, May 29) the authors bemoan the fallout and negative reaction to both students and to the university’s image resulting from the appearance on that campus of Khallid Abdul Muhammad.

When universities or their student organizations, whether at Howard, UC Riverside, Santa Monica College or elsewhere, elect to invite such spokespersons in the name of “freedom of expression,” frequently little attention is given to the ramifications. The legitimate quest for academic discourse should move both students and administration to engage responsible individuals in serious dialogue elsewhere regarding the range of interests of both blacks and Jews. Giving the appearance of academic legitimacy to hatemongers perverts the importance of those institutions.

When student organizations trot out purveyors of hate with their entourage of “security,” it is simply impossible to assume that the environment in which these spokespersons appear remains neutral. These events so embraced by the media can best be described as cheerleading sessions for anti-Semitism and racial hatred; showcased for all to see are the worst of historical revisionism and the culture of victimization.

Student organizations need to learn the political realities of our times; they need to take into account the implications of their actions upon the university and on the subject matter itself.

STEVEN F. WINDMUELLER

Executive Director

Jewish Community Relations Committee

Los Angeles