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Quanell X. Changing?

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by A_3PO, Jan 29, 2008.

  1. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5493478.html

    [​IMG]
    Quanell X, in a World War II-era railcar Monday, was
    welcomed by leaders of the Holocaust Museum Houston
    to take a tour.
    BILLY SMITH II: CHRONICLE


    Jan. 28, 2008, 11:39PM
    NEW VIEW OF THE WORLD
    Quanell X seeks to make amends
    Visiting the Houston Holocaust Museum, activist apologizes for his past hate-filled remarks about Jews

    By MIKE TOLSON
    Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

    The date was Oct. 15, 1995, the place Washington, D.C. On the eve of the Million Man March, a rally organized by the Nation of Islam, the organization's youth minister was ready with rhetoric and venom.

    Angered by Jewish protests over a conference dedicated to "the black Holocaust," 24-year-old Quanell X told the gathering that offended Jews "can go straight to hell," then expounded on his sentiments to a Chicago Tribune reporter.

    "The real deal is this: Black youth do not want a relationship with the Jewish community or the mainstream white community or the foot-shuffling, head-bowing, knee-bobbing black community," Quanell said. "I say to Jewish America: Get ready ... knuckle up, put your boots on because we're ready and the war is going down."

    A dozen years later, Houston's best-known black activist says he has changed. He is not only older but wiser, no longer beholden to revolutionary politics or an angry young man's immature view of the world.

    Now Quanell has something else to tell Jews: He's sorry. He was wrong, he says. And though it may anger some in his community — perhaps to the point of threats to his safety — he wants to make amends.

    Toward that end, he toured the Holocaust Museum Houston on Monday afternoon in the company of its executive director and chair-elect. He appeared moved by what he saw and learned, much of it for the first time. Quanell later expressed sorrow that he would have chosen remarks offensive and threatening to people who endured the horrors of Nazi concentration camps.

    "I apologize to every Jewish (Holocaust) survivor that may have heard anything I have ever said," Quanell said at the end of his tour, which culminated with his placing a stone at an outside memorial, a Jewish custom at a gravesite. "How could I say anything in a vile, malicious or repugnant manner to anyone who has been in one of these camps? I should have never threatened like that.

    "I seek the forgiveness of every survivor who has heard the words I've said," he continued. "I did not say them in the proper manner to make the point I was trying to get across. I can see and understand how they might be utterly paranoid (of) a person such as myself."

    Michael Goldberg, the chair-elect of the museum's board of directors, welcomed Quanell's visit despite initial concerns that he might be using the museum as a backdrop for a different agenda.

    "I think the apology and emotions I heard today were ones that fall within the scope of this museum," Goldberg said. "Quanell said he understood that I could be taking some risk by having him come here. My view is that the message of this museum is to turn hate into hope. The chance of sharing the message of the museum was too great not to take the risk."

    Community reaches out
    Jewish leaders also were encouraged by Quanell's different outlook.

    "I'm pleased to hear that Quanell X is working to change himself," said Martin B. Cominsky, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "We've been concerned about his connection to the New Black Panther Party and to other extremism. We hope that he will distance himself from groups which have a history of promoting bigotry and hatred. We're pleased that Quanell X has embarked on a journey of change. We look forward to seeing the results of his efforts."

    Rabbi Shaul Osadchey, founding rabbi of Congregation Or Ami, invited Quanell to visit his congregation. "I welcome Quanell X getting to know the Jewish community better and becoming more empathetic with our concerns and issues," Shaul said.

    In an interview, Quanell described the evolution of thought that led him to overcome the influence of a radical mentor and the personal demons that have haunted him since childhood, when he watched his grandmother clean the floors of a Jewish household.

    He said the change began about six years ago when he came face to face with racism within the Muslim community. After helping to organize a pro-Palestinian protest at the Israeli consulate in Houston, he discovered that some Palestinian protest leaders were not happy that an African-American Muslim would play such a visible role. The source of their discomfort was the color of his skin.

    "It was almost like somebody had taken two electrical currents and stuck them to me and touched me. It shook me," he said. "I grew up believing that racism did not exist among Muslims. ... I grew up believing that whenever I saw a Muslim, he would see me as his brother ... no matter where he was from or what racial background he came from, or what race or group of people he belonged to."

    That led him first to depression and disillusionment, then to a period of education and enlightenment. He said he found out that racism has existed in the Muslim world since its earliest days, and that Muslims played a role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

    Challenging thought
    Quanell said he began to challenge black Muslims who expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden.

    Quanell said he had private debates with Arab Muslims about how they treated their black counterparts in America.

    He began to see the error of his most widely spread comments. At the time, he was chided by Nation of Islam leaders for making a tactical blunder. Quanell said he now realizes it was worse than that.

    "I always wanted to say to the Jewish community, the manner in which I spoke in October of '95 was wrong and inappropriate," he said. "I had no moral or spiritual command or authority to invite a group of religious people, invite an entire religion of Judaism and Jews to war. That was not my place. ... I wanted to say that for years because my words frightened many members in the Jewish community. My words inspired many in the black community. My words could have brought harm to members of the Jewish community."

    Today Quanell, who for years has denied being anti-Semitic despite the implications of some of his rhetoric, said he wants to devote his life to uniting people, not dividing them.

    "I'm sick and tired of this fighting going back and forth between blacks and Jews," he said. "I don't want to be an instrument of division between blacks and Jews. God doesn't look at Jews, Muslims and Christians — white, black, brown — and see divisions. And so if I'm going to be an instrument that God that will use and can use, I must be about uniting the human family and not speaking to divisions or help creating or exacerbating old wounds. That's what I want my legacy to be."

    Chronicle reporter Dale Lezon contributed to this report.

    mike.tolson@chron.com
     
  2. leroy

    leroy Member
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    Good for him. There isn't a soul alive that could walk through that museum and not be moved.
     
  3. Achilleus

    Achilleus Member

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    <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EQ1owBzcWVE&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EQ1owBzcWVE&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
     
  4. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    redemption is a good thing. humility is a good thing.
     
  5. Rashmon

    Rashmon Member

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    If true, it is a very good thing, and bravo for the courage to admit his mistake, apologize, and make amends.

    However, the skeptic in me thinks he is making a purely public relations related move in anticipation of a move into city and/or state politics.

    I hope I'm wrong.
     
  6. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

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    This is my instinct as well. Good for him if he's sincere because maybe he can influence others who shared his beliefs and prejudices.
     
  7. StupidMoniker

    StupidMoniker I lost a bet

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    Black people don't hate Jews, black people hate white people. :)
     
  8. Rowdie Brandon

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    this is interesting....I really don't know what to say. I think him making comments in the past about holocaust is wrong, but being honest about the relationship between Jews and Africans in this country is something that I've never had a problem with (nor should anyone else). I saw Quanell speak a couple months back at a hip hop forum at U of H and one of the first things he mentioned were the Jews who ran the major record labels that push certain type of artists in the mainstream arena. Over the years the Nation (even Minister Farrakahn himself) has tried to ease their demeanor (to a degree) so they seem more acceptable to the general public. I'm thinking that Quanell has learned not to make derogatory remarks about other groups of people, but I doubt he's going to push the societal problems that exist between Africans and Jews to the side.
     
  9. Rowdie Brandon

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    This reminds me of a few years back when an Arab liquour store was ransacked by some NOI brothers. There is A LOT of racism towards blacks in the muslim community. The fact that some of these same men who claim to be Muslims distribute alcohol in poorer black communities speaks volumes imo......


    I still find this article to be very interesting......
     

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