Louis Farrakhan

Michael Lerner writes in “To Invite Farrakhan Is to Invite Racism” (Commentary, June 8) that “the NAACP invitation has given (Farrakhan) new avenues of entrance to more respectable communities.” The NAACP knows what most mainstream organizations can’t seem to accept. The people that come to hear Farrakhan speak are respectable people who are concerned about the condition of their community. You insult the intelligence of the black community when you insinuate that we are not morally able to tell wrong from right or recognize anti-Semitism and racism when it raises its ugly head.

The leaders of our community have the God-given right to come together for the benefit of the people. This historic meeting of the leaders in the black community is a monumental step to stop crime and uplift the poor and alienated masses. It has absolutely nothing to do with hate, racism or anti-Semitism.

PAUL K. JONES

Covina

* Lerner has, once again, exceeded the expectations of his readers. His recent article decrying the NAACP’s invitation to Farrakhan to speak before their National Leadership Conference simply could not rest with a condemnation of Farrakhan or Khallid Abdul Muhammad’s racism and anti-Semitism. No, Lerner needed to trot out the same themes he has hammered away at in his magazine, in a recent Op-Ed in the New York Times and elsewhere--blaming Commentary magazine and the New Republic for the venomous hate of Farrakhan and his minions.

He seems convinced that he alone is the protector of rectitude in the Jewish community because there are “mainstream Jewish organizations and publications” that have “defected from the social justice agenda.” What self-righteous, self-serving, arrogant baloney.

DAVID A. LEHRER

Regional Director

Anti-Defamation League, Los Angeles