Correspondent: Minister of Rage Tx Date: 2nd June 2002 This script was made from audio tape – any inaccuracies are due to voices being unclear or inaudible 00.00.01 Gary Younge This is the man the British government has banned for the last sixteen years. He's been branded a race-hater, a Jew- baiter, the Prophet of Babel, the black Hitler. 00.00.11 Music 00.00.12 Louis Farrakhan I don't fear the government of America. I don't fear white people. Why should I fear you, you're not God. 00.00.18 Gary Younge His defiance itself is regarded as dangerous. With no history of violence, it's his ideas they're afraid of. His weapons are his words. 00.00.27 Louis Farrakhan Bus it up! If it won't serve you right, bring it down! 00.00.31 Music 00.00.32 Gary Younge But in America where segregation became illegal only fifty years ago, his role is far more complex. He is keen to come to Britain. But who is the Minister of Rage? 00.00.43 Correspondent Theme Music 00.00.53 Title Page MINISTER OF RAGE? 00.01.00 Music 00.01.07 Gary Younge Suburban Los Angeles. I've come here to meet Farrakhan. 00.01.11 Gary Younge I've always been intrigued by how this mover and shaker in America had become a monster and scourge in the UK. So I was surprised to find Britain's public enemy number one playing Beethoven to the black Bourgeoisie and a few whites. All suited and booted for a glamorous night out. 00.01.28 Music 00.01.39 Gary Younge The concert is called 'A Musical Tribute to Humanity' and Farrakhan is reaching out to a broader constituency, who are paying up to a thousand dollars a ticket. 00.01.49 Gary Younge What did your friends say when you said I'm going to see Minister Farrakhan playing the violin tonight? 00.01.52 Woman Some people are very set in their resistance to the things he may have said in the past. I didn't hear them, I don't know. Other people have seen that there's a growth in him. 00.02.06 Gary Younge What kind of message do you think he's giving out here? 00.02.10 Man Well I think one of unity, one of accomplishment. I think he stands as an example of someone who has accomplished a number of tasks on a lot of different levels. 00.02.21 Louis Farrakhan playing violin 00.02.34 Gary Younge Farrakhan may play like a maestro but to me his cohorts look more like Mafiosi. 00.02.37 Gary Younge ...Mr Farrakhan, Gary Younge from the BBC. How do you feel about your father playing tonight? 00.02.45 Mr Farrakhan Lovely, lovely! 00.02.47 Gary Younge Thank you. 00.02.50 Louis Farrakhan playing violin 00.03.08 Security woman Welcome to the Cerritos Centre. We have a brief security procedure. Can you place your bags on the table? Thank you. 00.03.14 Gary Younge It seemed like excessive security for a violin concerto. A reflection of the paranoia surrounding Farrakhan's safety, rather than any real threat to his life. 00.03.24 Gary Younge It soon became clear that the unique access we had been promised lay behind a wall of bow-tied bodyguards. I spoke to the PR woman. 00.03.32 Lynn Allen Jeter You have two minutes at the beginning of the show. Afterwards, at the end of the show, he will address for approximately five minutes. That's all I know. 00.03.41 Gary Younge But a Nation of Islam official made it clear who was in charge and that we'd only be shown what he wanted to us to see. 00.03.47 Official Camera down please. Camera down. 00.03.50 Official I apologise for any misunderstanding. There's a high- definition recording going on inside. Any movement, any snapshots, is going to get in our shots. You're gonna move around and get in our shots and stuff. We have no area roped off for media. 00.04.03 Gary Younge The heavyweights arrived and a combination of officiousness and incompetence follows. Failure to obey orders, even when they keep changing, is dealt with severely. 00.04.12 Official Camera down. It's rolling. Now give me the tape. 00.04.19 Gary Younge So it's left to the PR, who was also told off, to explain. She's equally exasperated and fears that working with the Nation at the Hip Hop Summit the next day won't be much easier. 00.04.29 Gary Younge Right. What have they approved? 00.04.30 Aston LYNN ALLEN JETER Lynn Allen Jeter Associates Ok! Unfortunately, let me just tell you; you might have this drama again tomorrow. So I'm forewarning you because I am not, I'm the secondary media dealing with working with the Hip Hop tomorrow. But I will be there, so, you can definitely see me tomorrow. And I'll be fighting for you like I'm been fighting for you today. If I have to. 00.04.50 Gary Younge Do you think it might change again? Do your reckon, it could do couldn't it? 00.04.53 Lynn Allen Jeter It could yes. 00.04.54 Gary Younge It could do. 00.04.54 Lynn Allen Jeter It's like a woman, you know. We change our mind and we change our clothes. 00.04.58 Gary Younge You just have to follow the rules, don't you? You have to follow the rules. 00.05.00 Lynn Allen Jeter That's right; follow the rules. OK. That's the way it's going to work, all right. So put your gear up and I mean you can take it and see what happens in the intermission. 00.05.08 Gary Younge So, we've got to follow the rules but first all of we've got to find out what the rules are. 00.05.13 Music 00.05.22 Gary Younge Another day and a completely different audience. From classical concert to Hip Hop Summit. Farrakhan's constituencies vary but security routine remains the same. 00.05.33 Man Open it up; let me take a look inside. 00.05.34 Gary Younge It's open. 00.05.36 Man Sir? 00.05.36 Gary Younge It's open. 00.05.37 Man I mean, you know like stretch it out. 00.05.39 Gary Younge All right. Ok. 00.05.39 Man Yeah, yeah, no. There you go. There you go. You know what's in here. What's all that good stuff? 00.05.44 Gary Younge Oh, that's for my cough! 00.05.46 Man You're cough. Ok, put it back. 00.05.54 Gary Younge Inside a motley crew has gathered. There's Rap mogul Russell Simmons. Wheelchair bound gang-banger Mike Conceptioni and disgraced former Mayor of Washington DC, Marion Barry. 00.06.08 Gary Younge Their fans are Farrakhan's base; the black American underclass, the lost sheep. Those who have no shepherd or belong to no flock. American politicians talk about them but Farrakhan is the only one talking to them. 00.06.24 MC And now he's known as the freedom fighter for the oppressed all over the earth. And I know you love him and I love him. The Honourable Minister Louis Farrakhan, you should show your love for the Honourable Minster Louis Farrakhan as we bring him to the rostrum. Come on Hip Hop generation, the Honourable Minister Louis Farrakhan. 00.06.45 Applause 00.06.47 Louis Farrakhan You're the greatest generation that we ever produced – black, brown and white. The young people, you're the best. You know why? You are chosen for a new purpose. 00.07.06 Gary Younge Who else, I thought, in America would shower praise on the Hip Hop generation? And who else would they listen to? 00.07.13 Gary Younge Their talent had given them an audience, he said. Now they have to live up to their responsibility. 00.07.20 Louis Farrakhan Look, you are the teacher. Suppose you started teaching in your rap, knowledge that the children need to know to fight in a racist society. Suppose you began studying the truth of your contribution to civilisation and then put it in a rap. 00.07.49 Gary Younge But Farrakhan is not just there to tell his audience what they want to hear. 00.07.54 Gary Younge As he lauds their potential so does he lambaste their failings. 00.07.59 Louis Farrakhan You have license to be a fool. You have license to be a whore, a pimp, a drug dealer, a drug user, a shooter but you don't have the freedom to be a righteous man and a righteous woman because you don't wanna pay the price to be that. 00.08.22 Gary Younge Demagogic maybe, but important nonetheless. A message they won't heed from the conservatives but will take from Farrakhan because he's his own man. His reputation for the outrageous and his outsider status are his currency. 00.08.36 Louis Farrakhan A kinder, gentler Farrakhan? You don't know me. I am Farrakhan! I will die on the truth. Not weak but truth, strong and mighty to relieve you of your burdens. 00.08.54 Applause 00.08.57 Louis Farrakhan I'll tell you straight, you will never punk me. You don't have enough money to buy me. You don't have nothing to offer me. You can't kill me. Even if you try, I can't die. You will deal with me for generations. 00.09.20 Shouting/applause 00.09.28 Music 00.09.32 Gary Younge Farrakhan himself is a product of several generations of racial discontent, which led to the creation of the Nation of Islam in the early thirties. 00.09.39 Music 00.09.42 Gary Younge He's the latest in a line of enigmatic leaders starting with Fard Muhammad, the Nation's founder, whose birthday is celebrated with Saviour's Day, the equivalent of the Labour Party conference. 00.09.53 Gary Younge Fard Muhammad recruited Elijah Poole, who would later become the Honourable Elijah Muhammad, the Messenger, who claimed to be Allah's last prophet and taught his followers that the white man was the devil. 00.10.05 Gary Younge Under his leadership the Nation attracted high profile recruits like Muhammad Ali. 00.10.10 Muhammad Ali Because I follow this lovely sweet man. I tell them they can clean out my cell and take me to jail because I'll never denounce this man. 00.10.19 Cheering 00.10.21 Gary Younge Ali was recruited by Malcolm X. 00.10.24 Malcolm X There's no such thing as freedom in this country for a black man. There's no such thing as justice in this country for a black man. And there's no such thing as equality in this country for a black man. This is a white man's country. 00.10.38 Gary Younge It was Malcolm X who recruited Farrakhan into the movement. 00.10.42 Gary Younge Back then he was an outspoken Calypsonian who went under the stage name, The Charmer. He was born Louis Eugene Walcott. 00.10.49 Louis Farrakhan singing So my friends it's easy to tell, white man's heaven, black man's hell. 00.10.58 Gary Younge As Malcolm X's assistant, the young Farrakhan quickly distinguished himself with his powerful oratory, demonising whites. 00.11.05 Music 00.11.06 Louis Farrakhan His ways are strange. His actions are strange. His nature is strange to us. 00.11.13 Gary Younge When Malcolm X left the Nation, Farrakhan said he was worthy of death. Soon after he was assassinated. And Farrakhan rose through the ranks and became the Messenger's national representative. 00.11.37 Gary Younge Farrakhan's message of race pride and independence attracted Professor Vibert White. But the once loyal member, who rose rapidly through its ranks, gradually became disillusioned by Farrakhan's ostentatious lifestyle 00.11.50 Gary Younge So Farrakhan has a taste for the highlife. 00.11.53 Aston Prof. VIBERT WHITE Author, 'Inside the Nation of Islam' Exceedingly so. He likes the high life; that has always been his history. Even when he was in Boston as Minister Louis and later on as Minster Louis X and Minister Louis Farrakhan in New York, he liked to live a highlife. And there are even stories that the Honourable Elijah Muhammad had to pull his string a little bit, to pull him back out of the flamboyant lifestyle that he was living because it was not a good model for his people. 00.12.24 Gary Younge Those allegations continued after Farrakhan revived the Nation of Islam. 00.12.29 Prof. Vibert White In the last Saviour's Day every member of the Nation of Islam had to give one thousand dollars to Louis Farrakhan, had to give a thousand dollars to his son and they had to give at least another five to eight hundred dollars to the Saviour's Day Fund that finances the group, again that goes to Louis Farrakhan. And this doesn't even count the numbers or the amount of money they're sending to the Nation of Islam or Louis Farrakhan every week. 00.13.03 Prof. Vibert White You have a group of people who is easily spending forty to sixty percent of their income, their disposable income to finance the organisation. 00.13.12 Gary Younge Like a cult? 00.13.13 Prof. Vibert White It is a cult because the idea of it again is that they will say, well we have to make sure Louis Farrakhan looks good. But this looking good means the purchasing of several mansions, the purchasing of several luxury automobiles, the purchasing and the going on exotic vacations every couple of months. You're living in front of them in this style, while they're starving. I think there is something wrong with that. 00.13.42 Music 00.13.42 Gary Younge Elijah Muhammad appeared to be grooming Farrakhan as his successor. But when he died in 1975 the mantle was unexpectedly passed to his seventh son, Wallace. 00.13.53 Gary Younge Wallace made radical changes, abandoning black nationalism and embracing orthodox Islam. So Farrakhan soon split with him and re-established the Nation's traditional message. 00.14.03 Music 00.14.18 Gary Younge The south side of Chicago; one of Black America's bustling cultural hubs and the Nation of Islam's base. Its main mosque, its newspaper and Farrakhan's main home are all based here. So it's here that I came to find out what the Nation means to the wider African-American community. 00.14.36 Music 00.14.40 Gary Younge I arranged to meet Aminah McCloud, an authority on black Americans and Islam, outside the Nation's now closed Salaam restaurant. 00.14.49 Aminah McCloud Hi! 00.14.49 Gary Younge Hi there! 00.14.50 Aminah McCloud How are you? 00.14.51 Gary Younge Fine thanks, how are you doing? 00.14.52 Aminah McCloud Good to see you, I'm fine. 00.14.53 Gary Younge Yes. Good to see you too. 00.14.54 Aminah McCloud What's up? 00.14.55 Gary Younge Well nothing much. 00.14.58 Gary Younge I asked her what she felt Farrakhan was doing for black America. 00.15.01 Aston Prof. AMINAH McCLOUD Prof. Of Religion, De Paul University Someone has to make sense of the world for the rest of us. And he, for the black community, has been that person. Since nine eleven he has made it a part of his mission to inform just, people in the African American community where is Afghanistan, you know? Let's do some geography lessons, let's get an understanding of what geopolitics is without saying the word geopolitics but showing people how connections are made and why what's happening is important for them. 00.15.42 Gary Younge Do you think that the importance of Minister Farrakhan in black American politics and American politics in general has shifted since September eleventh? 00.15.50 Aminah McCloud It's shifted but America prefers its minorities to only deal with minority affairs. 00.15.57 Gary Younge Right. 00.15.58 Aminah McCloud And as long as we're dealing with minority affairs we're ok. 00.16.01 Gary Younge Right. 00.16.01 Aminah McCloud When we step into global circles, even people like Jesse Jackson, you kind of get a slap and you get back to where you're supposed to be. So in that way the easiest way to make someone insignificant is to ignore them. 00.16.15 Music 00.16.25 Gary Younge During the mid-eighties, Farrakhan was packing out massive venues. The case for his ban dates back to this period. A time when he gained global notoriety for making inflammatory, anti-Semitic speeches. 00.16.38 Music 00.16.38 Gary Younge Power of Babel! 00.16.42 Louis Farrakhan Look, who were the enemies of Jesus? 00.16.45 Crowd The Jews! 00.16.46 Music 00.16.48 Gary Younge The Demagogue in a Crowd! 00.16.51 Louis Farrakhan I never called Judaism a gutter religion. I said the practice of lying, stealing, murder and deceit and using God's holy name to shield your dirty religion not the practice of the scriptures but your dirty practices using God's holy name. Do you hear what I'm saying? 00.17.15 Gary Younge Almost twenty years later everything else Farrakhan has said or done has been dwarfed by his reputation for being an anti-Semite. It was arguably once central to his message. 00.17.26 Gary Younge I asked Salim Muwakkil, a member of the Nation during the sixties, whether it's ever been central to his meaning. 00.17.33 Gary Younge Is there nothing in the accusations of him being an anti- Semite? 00.17.36 Aston SALIM MUWAKKIL Former member, Nation of Islam I think there's something to it. I think Farrakhan flirted with the kind of classical anti-Semitism ironically that comes out of the Eastern European Christian community more than it does the Muslim community or black nationalist community. He flirted with that kind of stuff you know, the international bankers, and, and, and when, and when the Jewish community attacked him he used a counterattack to provoke a 'circle the wagons' response in the black community and that increased his own visibility and I think at times he used that strategically for his own purposes. 00.18.15 Music 00.18.16 Gary Younge Fuhrer Fanatic! 00.18.18 Louis Farrakhan I said Hitler was a wickedly great man; I didn't make a mistake. I know the language, you taught it to me white folks. Now all of a sudden you got dumb to the meaning of what great is. 00.18.29 Music 00.18.32 Gary Younge Do you think he's an anti-Semite? 00.18.33 Prof. Vibert White Of course he is. And that is because he doesn't say that a particular Jew is his enemy or that he has a particular problem with a Jewish organisation. He argues and has said in the past and still believes the trend that the Jewish people are his sworn enemy, so that makes him an anti- Semite. 00.19.00 Gary Younge Slightly changed the rhetoric in recent times, though, hasn't he? 00.19.04 Prof. Vibert White I think he has changed his, his image but not the basic belief, all right. Of course, it is not politically smart to say that any longer. Remember when he said this in the open in the 1980s and 1990s there was a, there was a, a mass movement of black nationalism and black cultural identity and rebirth among African American people. So he said these things because it was cool, it was fashionable. It was exciting; I'm the big bad Louis Farrakhan, I can get away with it. 00.19.38 Applause 00.19.40 Gary Younge The issue came to prominence when he was assisting Jesse Jackson's campaign for the presidential nomination in 1984. He believes British Jews have organised to keep him out of the UK. 00.19.52 Aston Hon. Minister LOUIS FARRAKHAN Leader, Nation of Islam This ban has been on me for nearly seventeen years and I think it's largely because after the Jesse Jackson campaign there was this, I would say, polemic in dialogue between myself and the Jewish community. And because that dialogue was not resolved, it seemed as though the Jewish community in the UK utilised their influence to say that I was not a good person to come to the United Kingdom. And so from that day to this I have been banned. 00.20.36 Music 00.20.45 Gary Younge But in America the crowds keep coming. The Nation of Islam's Mosque twenty-seven is located in south central Los Angeles. It was from here that Farrakhan re- launched the organisation in the mid-seventies and it's here that believers from all over America and a few from abroad have gathered ahead of his keynote address on Saviour's Day. The finale to the week's events. 00.21.07 Music 00.21.09 Gary Younge Can I have this one? 00.21.11 Gary Younge I'm finding the notion that Farrakhan is a completely innocent victim of a slur campaign difficult to swallow. 00.21.19 Gary Younge So I asked him whether he felt he'd been misrepresented by the media and if so, why? 00.21.25 Louis Farrakhan I believe that there are those who feel that the message of truth from the Honourable Elijah Muhammad is a threat to the control that many have had over black people and others as well. 00.21.43 Louis Farrakhan So they purposely put a veil over me that he's anti-white, he's anti-Semitic, he's anti-American, he's anti-Christian, he's anti-gay. So when you put that on me then people of intelligence, rational people say 'I don't want anything to do with that man'. That is exactly the intention of those in power. 00.22.11 Music 00.22.30 Gary Younge The Million Man March in October 1995 is widely acknowledged as the greatest achievement of Farrakhan's leadership. 00.22.37 Gary Younge Far bigger and more orderly than anyone had expected, it propelled him, overnight, onto the global stage. Mike Fletcher covered the march for the Washington Post. 00.22.48 Gary Younge While angry white men led the Republican revival in Congress, here was a defiant response from black America. 00.22.54 Crowd chanting Too black, too strong. Too black too strong. 00.22.58 Aston MIKE FLETCHER Washington Post It was the most incredible thing. I mean you had this huge crowd out here that totally filled the mall. I mean people were here shoulder to shoulder. 00.23.06 Gary Younge All of this? 00.23.06 Mike Fletcher All over this. I mean literally shoulder to shoulder. To make you way across the mall would take an hour… 00.23.11 Gary Younge Right. 00.23.11 Mike Fletcher …to get through because the crowd was that dense. But in that there was this kind of spirituality almost. It was a kind of respectfulness. I don't think I saw one person even smoking a cigarette. No drinking, nothing like that, it was the most orderly respectful crowd. 00.23.26 Gary Younge Were people expecting that? 00.23.28 Mike Fletcher No one knew what to expect, you know, given kind of the baggage Farrakhan brought to this, people didn't know at first whether this would even turn out to be a big event. 00.23.36 Gary Younge By almost any standard it was a major success. Farrakhan had mobilised black man in a way no other African American leader could. 00.23.45 Louis Farrakhan White supremacy has to die in order for humanity to live. 00.23.51 Gary Younge So Mike, tell us something about what happened to Farrakhan's stature after the Million Man March? 00.23.57 Mike Fletcher Well, I tell you, I mean immediately after he was elevated beyond anything anyone would have imagined even a month before, a day before the march. I mean he was treated like a dignitary in this country. I remember going to a press conference the day after the march and literally people were waving in the street as his motorcade arrived at the site and it was as if he were some kind of presidential candidate or something like that. 00.24.18 Gary Younge Black people were… 00.24.18 Mike Fletcher Black people mainly but and also I think white people were really sort of impressed or at least mystified that this wasn't the horrible person that they had read about and heard about before. He had a lot more dimensions to him than they realised. 00.24.31 Mike Fletcher But as time went on and he went on the World Friendship Tour, he started travelling around the world and talking more about global affairs, Islamic affairs, I think he lost some of his constituency here in the country as a result of that, people didn't know quite what he was doing. You know, but for that moment it was like magic in a bottle and if he had uncorked that bottle and Farrakhan held that in his hand. 00.24.51 Gary Younge Did he, did he waste it? Did he throw it away, do you think? 00.24.54 Mike Fletcher I have to say yes. I mean, I think his agenda was just too expansionist at the beginning, A. And B he didn't have enough of an infrastructure, enough of an organisation to carry out some of the things he wanted to carry out. 00.25.06 Gary Younge The momentum waned. But Farrakhan was already on his way from the margins to the mainstream, developing a more constructive dialogue with Jews and a more nuanced critique of white racism. 00.25.17 Music 00.25.39 Gary Younge Seven years after the march, surfing the net I find Farrakhan has been making new and influential friends in the most unexpected places. 00.25.48 Gary Younge Today, one of his most vocal backers has a web site offering financial advice and can be found on Wall Street. 00.25.55 Gary Younge Confirm our deflation call, let's see if I can find Farrakhan. 00.26.03 Gary Younge reading from screen You know, I think, that I believe that Minister Farrakhan is the most important Muslim leader in the world by virtue of the fact that he is an American and can best represent the concepts of the Islamic world to our government and the administration you serve. 00.26.19 Gary Younge Jude Wanniski is a former Reagan economics advisor. I would have thought this arch-conservative would have been one of Farrakhan's sternest critics. But found him to be one of his most devout supporters. 00.26.30 Gary Younge It would be very surprising or interesting for many people, to know that Minister Farrakhan has a confidante and a friend who's first of all white and secondly Republican. 00.26.43 Aston JUDE WANNISKI Financial Consultant I was taught at UCLA journalism that to be a good reporter you don't stop asking questions until you run out of people with answers. So, where I was told Minister Farrakhan is bigoted, he's prejudiced, he's anti-Semitic, I say well I have to see for myself. 00.27.09 Gary Younge Wanniski liked what he saw. So much so, that he felt nothing about joining Farrakhan's followers at this year's Saviour's Day in Los Angeles. 00.27.19 Gary Younge Over several years he's also got to know Farrakhan up close and personal. He wistfully recalls how he once slipped back into Farrakhan's house to use the toilet after a marathon five hour discussion. 00.27.31 Jude Wanniski And when I came out, I saw a tiny little room and I could see a little television set flickering in there. And as I walked by I saw Minister Farrakhan is sitting on the couch watching television at ten o'clock at night with his wife sitting right next to him, holding hands. I mean, that was, after, you know, forty-five years of marriage, that's a beautiful thing. There's no fooling around, there's no posturing with that. 00.27.56 Speaker We'd like to recognise a donation there, in the second row, from our friend Jude Wanniski. And the donation is one thousand dollars from Mr Wanniski. Thank you sir, thank you so very much for your donation. 00.28.09 Gary Younge While Wanniski's financial contributions are open and his personal devotion obvious, the source of their political relationship is less clear. 00.28.17 Jude Wanniski When Minister Farrakhan came and spoke to my conference in Boca Raton in Florida, I mean he got a standing ovation and half of the people, my clients, are Jewish. They're all in the financial world. They never heard that before. He got up and he said; if the government gives the family free food, free clothing, free housing, free education, free transportation, what is the father of the family to do? What's left for the black, what's left for the father? See, that's the job of the breadwinner to do those things. And, you know, it was a great message. 00.28.48 Man singing 00.28.58 Gary Younge Why do you think it is if Farrakhan is such a force for good that white America has remained so aloof and so antagonistic towards him? 00.29.07 Jude Wanniski Well, it is the American Jewish community that is so fanatical about saving Israel. And the fact that he is a Muslim and that he is a potential threat, I guess, to the Coalition, that they have gone to such lengths over the last forty, fifty years to assemble in our political system that he does seem as a threat. 00.29.35 Congregation singing 00.29.55 Gary Younge Farrakhan has crossed the colour line not only in politics but religion too. 00.30.00 Father Michael Pfleger I've known the minister both as someone who I have great respect for as a prophetic voice, as a mentor but also as a friend and as a brother. We've become very close friends over the years. Our families have been close; he's shared dinner at my house as I have at his many, many times. He has preached from our pulpit here at this church on three different occasions. We've worked together on issues not only for this community but in the city and in the nation. 00.30.27 Priest singing 00.30.29 Gary Younge Father Michael Pfleger ministers to Saint Sabina, an African American Catholic church a short distance from the Nation's main mosque, Mosque Maryam. 00.30.38 Gary Younge His personal and pastoral relationship with Farrakhan suggests, at the very least, that perceptions of Farrakhan as a religious zealot and racist bigot need refining. 00.30.48 Gary Younge Farrakhan's friendships with both Wanniski and Father Pfleger indicate both a far more complex value system and shaded approach than many have given him credit for. 00.30.59 Gary Younge How has that relationship played both with your immediate community and with the church? 00.31.06 Aston Fr MICHAEL PFLEGER St Sabina Church Mixed. Mixed. With my immediate community strong and supportive. The Church was not supportive. They were, wanted me to disinvite him. The ADL at that time threatened to boycott and to picket the Church on that Sunday morning. 00.31.24 Gary Younge That's the Anti Defamation League. 00.31.25 Fr Michael Pfleger The Anti-Defamation League. We received a number of hate calls and threats regarding having the minister here, not just the first time but each time that he's spoken here. But I am not ashamed or would I ever go back on my friendship or my support for the minister. 00.31.47 Father Michael Pfleger Minister Farrakhan has many times been labelled as anti- Semitic, as anti-white, as anti-Catholic. Well, first of all, I mean our friendship certainly throws up the anti-white and anti-Catholic. 00.31.59 Gary Younge Do you understand why they were upset? 00.32.01 Father Michael Pfleger I think in earlier years his passion and his emotion sometimes had him say, phrase things in ways that sound bites and, and the, the, the, the fringe listener could take and misinterpret and I think that was, I think the minister himself says that, he's, he's learned to watch more carefully how he phrases and says things. But I think the minister has been tremendously misinterpreted and defined by the media rather than listened to by the media. 00.32.36 Music 00.32.40 Gary Younge While Farrakhan must accept responsibility for what he's said and done, so his critics must acknowledge his capacity to develop and evolve both personally and politically. The question is not whether his message has altered over recent years – it most definitely has - the key issue is why. 00.32.57 Music 00.33.00 Louis Farrakhan I think that in the Nation of Islam the natural evolution of us as Muslims would be from a nationalistic stance where our concerns were only for black people, which was the mission and is the mission of the Honourable Elijah Muhammad to first raise the black man and woman from a state of mental, moral, spiritual, economic and social death. 00.33.32 Louis Farrakhan But then the whole of humanity is suffering. The whole of humanity is lost. So if that message of Islam can find us and reform us and make us better human beings, that same message is good for Latinos, that same message is good for native Americans, that same message is good for the whites of America and the whole human family as well. 00.33.59 Gary Younge So even though African-Americans are your primary constituency, you are now reaching out or you are further reaching out, would that be fair? 00.34.08 Louis Farrakhan Well, I, if you study Farrakhan, you would see that over the last twelve or fifteen years I have been reaching out. 00.34.22 Gary Younge There appear to be two possible explanations for this change in approach. One charitable, the other cynical. And there's probably an element of truth in both. 00.34.33 Aston SALIM MUWAKKIL Former member, Nation of Islam It's hard to say what is the motivating factor. He says that it is simply, you know, the African-Americans no longer need that kind of therapeutic teaching. That they're ready for the, for the pure Islam, for pure religion and that's what he's going to focus on. 00.34.54 Salim Muwakkil More cynical folk will say that he did this because the Nation of Islam was on hard times economically and he had to make a more ecumenical appeal in order to gain, attract funds from Muslim groups overseas. 00.35.09 Gary Younge The gradual but irreversible changes in America's racial landscape may also have played a role. 00.35.15 Gary Younge Some believe it was pragmatism masquerading as principle. 00.35.20 Aston Prof. VIBERT WHITE Author, 'Inside the Nation of Islam' I think Farrakhan is trying to move into a position that he will be more palatable to the larger community because he understands now that since we live in a, in a multi- cultural society and a diverse society, where people are looked upon more and more than ever before for their character, not by their colour and their nationality and ethnicity, that he must give a newer look, a refreshed look that the Nation of Islam is not that polarising organisation. So he is forced, he didn't do it on his own accord. Environment changed him. Political issues changed him. The changing structure of America as a society has forced him to take on a new pattern. 00.36.05 Gary Younge But for all this talk of change the central tenets of the Nation's ideology remain intact. Farrakhan's core constituency remains black America and his core aims of separatism remain almost identical to those espoused by the Nation's founder, Fard Muhammad, more than seventy years ago. 00.36.23 Aston Hon. Minster LOUIS FARRAKHAN Leader, Nation of Islam We are Muslim and we believe that we have been deprived of real true freedom, true justice and true equality. So we petition the government of the United States, since we live here, to give, not only us, that freedom but give that freedom to all. Give justice to all and equity to all. And if we cannot get that within the political, economic and social environment of the United States then we ask to be separated into a state or territory of our own where we will have a chance to give these rights that we feel we've been denied to ourselves. 00.37.16 Gary Younge Are we coming close to the point of them giving back what has been denied or further? 00.37.20 Louis Farrakhan I think that depends on our own strength. I don't believe any slave master willingly gives up his slaves and I don't think anyone who has been an oppressive ruler willingly, voluntarily, gives up tyranny and oppression. I believe our own self-development; our own high degree of reform and civilisation will force people to look upon us differently than they look at us now. 00.37.57 Gary Younge But what most impressed me from Farrakhan's Saviour's Day address was his critique of America's response to the atrocities of September the eleventh. 00.38.06 Louis Farrakhan They didn't know nothing the day before. September the tenth, you don't know nothing about no terrorists. September the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth, they got nineteen faces in the paper, uh huh these are they guys. Well, when did you learn that? How did you learn that? 00.38.37 Louis Farrakhan Something's wrong with this picture. 00.38.39 Salim Muwakkil He has in many ways become the chief spokesman of that, of that radical or that left critique of United States foreign policy. There's nobody, no American leadership, black or white, that is speaking effectively to the domestic and international dynamics for nine eleven or the consequences and ramifications of nine eleven. No one is speaking to how the US has provoked these feelings of hatred among others in the world as effectively as Farrakhan is speaking to it. 00.39.19 Louis Farrakhan And some people think that it is patriotic to be with your President. Wait! And he said if you're not with me and us, you're with the terrorists. He don't give us any wiggle room. 00.39.39 Applause 00.39.46 Louis Farrakhan Well, we're not with you. And we are not any terrorists. 00.39.53 Gary Younge While September the eleventh has lent Farrakhan new purpose, he believes it's made little difference to the lives of black Americans. 00.40.00 Louis Farrakhan For black people nothing has really changed. The suffering of our people continues. The prison rate is still high, the drug consumption is still high, the incidence of murder in the black community is still high, the gang problem is still there, the problem of injustice in the society is still there. So, since September the eleventh, many, many black people have lost their jobs. And so there is greater suffering, it would appear, not only among blacks but among many whites as well. 00.40.39 Gary Younge Farrakhan is a charismatic speaker. But scathing as it was, his speech is not greeted with rioting but rapturous applause. 00.40.47 Gary Younge What did he hope to gain, I wondered, from his visit to the UK? 00.40.53 Louis Farrakhan What do I hope to accomplish on coming is to see those who follow me, to give the blacks, the whites, the Muslims a chance to hear me and judge me for themselves. After all, Britain once ruled the entire world. And Britain has nothing to fear from her citizens listening to a man and making their own judgement as to whether that man is worthy to be listened to or to be discarded. 00.41.29 Gary Younge What's the strategic importance of Britain to the Nation of Islam? 00.41.33 Prof. Vibert White England is very, very important to the Nation of Islam for several reasons. It's a chance for Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the organisation, to breathe new life into a movement that has really become stagnant in the last several years. 00.41.47 Gary Younge Stagnant in America? 00.41.48 Prof. Vibert White In the United States. It's a chance to recapture the excitement, the dynamism that he culminated with the Million Man March. 00.41.58 Gary Younge So does Britain have anything to fear from Louis Farrakhan coming to Britain? 00.42.01 Prof. Vibert White I think that it's only sensible that the British government should be very cautious in allowing a person in like Louis Farrakhan because the country, the period that we live in is a very dangerous time. We have the conflict with Afghanistan, the conflict in the Middle East with Israel and Palestine. And so therefore you have a Louis Farrakhan coming in that could escalate this problem 00.42.26 Gary Younge Should Britain have anything to fear from him coming to Britain? 00.42.30 Aston MIKE FLETCHER Washington Post Absolutely not. They're a law abiding group, I mean that's part of their very, you know, sort of founding structure, you know, they're going to abide by any laws in any country where they reside. So there's nothing to fear in that sense and I think I actually there's something to be gained. I think there's kind of a unifying force and again most of his, ninety percent of his message to his followers is; 'unite, you have power that you don't realise, you have and you just need to exercise that power by coming together and working as a unit'. So I don't think there's anything to fear in that at all. 00.43.00 Music 00.43.05 Gary Younge So is Farrakhan problematic? Certainly. 00.43.09 Gary Younge His call for racial separation and past inflammatory remarks make both the message and the man unsavoury to some. Particularly at such a racially sensitive time in the UK. 00.43.19 Music 00.43.20 Gary Younge But would his arrival in Britain present a problem? Certainly not. 00.43.24 Gary Younge He has no history of advocating violence against other groups and his rhetoric has mellowed in recent years. So only his ideas pose a threat. 00.43.33 Gary Younge And if Britain's multi-cultural society cannot challenge those head on, we can hardly blame Farrakhan for that. 00.43.39 End Music 00.43.43 Voice over For more information on tonight's programme and to register your views, please visit our web site at: www.bbc.co.uk/correspondent Reporter GARY YOUNGE Camera KELVIN RICHARD IAN WATTS Sound BRUNO STRAPKO BYRON SMITH Dubbing Mixer DAMIAN REYNOLDS VT Editor ROD HUTSON Graphic Design NICOLA OWEN Production Team ALEXANDRA CAMERON CHARLOTTE DAVIS SARAH EVA MARTHA O'SULLIVAN Production Manager JANE WILLEY Unit Manager SUSAN CRIGHTON Film Research NICK DODD Picture Editor DAVID HOWELL Series Producer SIMON FINCH Produced & Directed by GEOFF SMALL Deputy Editor FARAH DURRANI 00.43.57 Voice over Next week: the inside story of the siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. A Correspondent Special on the five week stand off between the Israeli Army and Palestinian gunmen. That's eight o'clock next Sunday. 00.44.13 Editor FIONA MURCH BBC © BBC MMII 00.44.18 End BBC Correspondent 1 1