House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) (Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) -- Although House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has repeatedly claimed that as a young man he only had a "vague recollection" about the anti-Semitic views of his uncle, Prof. Leonard Jeffries, a college editorial Jeffries wrote in 1992 reveals that he was well aware of his uncle's radical beliefs and those of Minister Louis Farrakhan.
In response to this recent discovery by CNN, the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) issued a statement saying, "Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries owes the Jewish community an explanation as to why he lied and attempted to cover up his defense of these revolting antisemites."
"The added hypocrisy here is particularly jarring: Jeffries recently falsely accused Republicans of not wanting to teach children about the Holocaust, but he’s been exposed as defending antisemites who have said Hitler was a 'great man' and called Judaism a 'dirty religion,'" said the RJC.
Prof. Leonard Jeffries. (Screenshot, Wikipedia)
"Unfortunately, this is yet another disturbing data point of the Democratic Party embracing and promoting antisemites, from Leonard Jeffries and Louis Farrakhan to Ilhan Omar," added organization.
As CNN reported on Apr. 12, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has "for years" claimed that he was "off at college and shielded from controversies surrounding his uncle, black studies professor Leonard Jeffries, who eventually lost his job over incendiary comments about Jewish people."
However, CNN uncoved a commentary written by Jeffries in 1992, when he was a college student at Binghampton University and an executive board member of the Black Student Union (BSU). At that time, the BSU invited the radical Prof. Leonard Jeffries to speak at the school.
On Feb. 26, 1992, Leonard Jeffries spoke at the university, a controversial event that prompted Jewish and pro-Israel students to protest. Prior to the event, Hakeem Jeffries, the nephew of Prof. Jeffries, wrote a commentary that was published (Feb. 21, 1992) in The Vanguard, a publication of the Black Student Union.
In the commentary, Hakeem Jeffries compared Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and "the Black conservative" to a "House Negro," a slave who worked inside and "sought to emulate the white master." He also criticized the "predominantly white media" for accepting Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, and Shelby Steele, and promoting them as "examples for us to follow."
Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. (Getty Images)
Jeffries then wrote, "I find it suspect when the white power structure and their propaganda emissaries, the media, tell us who our leaders should be. Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who would seek to dismantle their vice-like grip on power? Of course not."
"Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire," wrote Jeffries. "Where do you think their interests lie? Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremacist educational system and the longstanding distortion of history. His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations."
That was Haakem Jeffries at age 21 writing about his uncle, Leonard Jeffries. Clearly, Hakeem Jeffries was well aware of his uncle's radicalism and that of Louis Farrakhan, contrary to his claims today of a "vague recollection."
Then-Senator Barack Obama, left, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, 2005. (Photo by Askia Muhammed)
Prof. Leonard Jeffries was the chariman of the Black Studies Department at CCNY from 1973 to 1993. In 1991, Jeffries gave a speech in Albany, N.Y.
As reported by the Washington Post, in that speech "Jeffries launched into a tirade against whites generally and Jews specifically. He said that there has been 'a conspiracy, planned and plotted and programmed out of Hollywood [by] people called Greenberg and Weisberg and Trigliani,' and that 'Russian Jewry had a particular control over the movies, and their financial partners, the Mafia, put together a financial system of destruction of black people.'"
"Jeffries turned history upside down and informed his audience that 'everyone knows rich Jews helped finance the slave trade,'" reported The Post. "He also focused his attention on Diane Ravitch, formerly professor of teaching and education at Teachers College, Columbia, now assistant U.S. secretary of education. Ravitch, who is one of the most thoughtful, articulate and persuasive critics of 'multiculturalism,' was dismissed by Jeffries as 'a sophisticated, debonair racist' and 'a Texas Jew.'"
(Getty Images)
Jeffries speech caused a firestorm in the media and in academic circles. In 1992, he lost his position as chairman of the African-American Studies Department but was reinstated in 1993. In 1995, another professor was elected to the position of chairman.
In its statement, the RJC said, "The disgusting remarks Leonard Jeffries made include: comparing Jews to 'dogs' and 'skunks,' saying that 'rich Jews' financed the slave trade, and saying that Jewish Hollywood executives 'planned and plotted and programmed' a conspiracy to denigrate Black Americans in films.
"At the time, these statements were widely condemned, including by the ADL, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins."
"But not by Hakeem Jeffries," said the RJC. "Not only was Minority Leader Jeffries well aware of his uncle’s vile antisemitism, he invited his uncle to speak on the campus of Binghamton University – and after Jewish student groups protested the visit, Jeffries led a press conference in support of his uncle, and also penned an editorial where he forcefully defended his antisemite uncle and notorious bigot Louis Farrakhan...."
Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 52, was elected to Congress in 2012. Leonard Jeffries, 86, is retired.
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