“Mr. Clinton has smacked [them] allrnaround all year.”rnFarrakhan’s skill at unifying blacksrnagainst a common enemy has been especiallyrnevident in recent months. He hasrnbrought leaders in the Chicago gangrnwars to the bargaining table and been arngodsend to former congressman MelrnReynolds, who is now on trial on chargesrnof having lied to get bank loans andrnembezzled campaign contributions.rnAlthough Reynolds lashed out at Farrakhanrnduring his campaign to unseatrnCongressman Gus Savage, and althoughrnReynolds’s enemies say that his campaignrnenjoyed the financial backing ofrnwealthy Jews in the Chicago suburbs,rnFarrakhan has come to Reynolds’s defense,rnmaking a controversial appearancernat the trial and characterizing the formerrncongressman as the victim of an overlyrnzealous federal government. To Farrakhanrnand his followers, Reynolds is beingrnsingled out by the same governmentrnthat was responsible for funding thernCentral American groups smugglingrndrugs into poor black neighborhoods inrnLos Angeles, a rumor that might formrnthe basis for a class-action lawsuit againstrnthe federal government.rnFarrakhan has also had a role in thernEast Coast-West Coast rap war, whichrnbroke into the news with the murders ofrnTupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace,rna/k/a the Notorious B.I.G. In the ensuingrngang/rap war, 13 people were shot, allrnconnected in some way with either therngangs or their rap labels. As the magazinernVibe editorialized in the wake of thernbloodshed, “All of u s . . . must now comerntogether and take responsibility for ourselvesrnand each other.”rnEnter Louis Farrakhan. To Farrakhanrnthe feuding rappers were like SouthrnAfrican tribes whose combined politicalrnpower could be immense if only theyrnwould stop their civil war. He persuadedrnmany of the rap leaders to attend a summitrnon April 3, where he successfully encouragedrnthem to set aside their differences,rnplan a joint tour, and collaboraternon an album dedicated to the memory ofrnthe slain rappers.rnBut the Nation of Islam had more tornoffer than just charisma: the protectionrnof its security force, the Fruit of Islam. Inrnother words, having made peace underrnthe guidance of Louis Farrakhan, rappersrnwill once again be able to tour the countryrnwithout fear of being gunned down.rnBut this “atonement project” will also involvernpolitical activism, supported by thernvast proceeds that rappers rake in. Accordingrnto “Monster,” a producer andrnradio personality in Adanta, Snoop DoggiernDog has sold 10 million records. IcernCube over 15 million. Chuck D over 10rnmillion. Bone over 8.5 million, and ToornShort over 7.5 million. As Monster toldrnthe NOI newspaper The Final Call, “Yourntake all of these units sold and translaternthem into votes, marches, organizations,rnand combine them with the HonorablernMinister Louis Farrakhan, and we canrnchange the country overnight.”rnWhen Philadelphia’s mayor, Ed Rendell,rninvited Farrakhan to speak at a summitrnfollowing the beating of a blackrnwoman and two black men by a group ofrnwhite Catholics in the Grays Ferry neighborhoodrnin April, he drew a lot of heatrnfrom Catholic and Jewish leaders, somernof whom refused to come to the meeting.rn(As columnist Dave Barry wrote inrnthe Philadelphia Daily News, “If Rendellrnis running for governor, he may well seernthat picture of himself holding Farrakhan’srnhand again. And again, andrnagain.”) But Rendell knew that Farrakhanrncommands more respect thanrnany other black leader today. One canrnrevere, admire, fear, or despise LouisrnFarrakhan, but it is no longer possible tornignore him.rnWhile many liberals write Farrakhanrnoff either as an anti-Semite or as an inevitablernbyproduct of racism and blackrndespair, conservatives are divided. AsrnNational Review recently noted, Farrakhanrn”is enjoying the Strangest NewrnRespect of all—and from conservatives,rnno less. Robert Novak has devoted tworncolumns to his defense. . . . [Jude] Wanniskirnsays that Rirrakhan is ‘close to beingrnrecognized as the most important blackrnman in the world.'” Then there’s JackrnKemp, who a few weeks before the electionrngot into trouble for praising Farrakhan’srnemphasis on strong families andrnself-reliance. “I think it’s interesting,”rnKemp told the Boston Globe, that “inrnthe black community, more and morernchurch leaders are telling their men to bernresponsible fathers and to be respectfulrnto their wives and women.” Not surprisingly,rnKemp then met with AmericanrnJewish leaders, assuring them he was notrnexcusing Farrakhan’s bigotry.rnIn one respect, Jack Kemp is right: Farrakhanrndoes offer a concrete programrnbased on strong families and selfreliance.rnIn A Torchlight for America,rnFarrakhan praises the vast spending powerrnof black America as a whole—$300rnbillion a year—but laments how thisrnmoney is spent: on sneakers, records,rnjewelry all produced by companiesrnowned by nonblacks. Appealing torn”black scholars, professionals, organizationsrnand the wealthy among us” to poolrntheir resources to build and promoternblack business, Farrakhan calls on blacksrnin general to redirect their spending tornblack enterprises. Proceeds from the Nationrnof Islam’s “3-Year EconomicrnPlan”—which involves frugality in one’srnpersonal life—will also go toward blackrneconomic development. Farrakhan alsorndemands “the equitable distribution ofrnbusiness, financial assets and land ownership”rnto make up for the imbalancerncaused by slavery. Whether this “distribution”rnand “compensation” wouldrnmean reparation payments or a massivernredistribution of property, Farrakhanrndoes not say.rn”We are the ones who can destroy thernmentality of white supremacy,” says Farrakhan,rn”by what we accomplish m thernway of building and doing for self.” IfrnFarrakhan does embrace “victim politics,”rnit is only in decrying how blacksrncontinue to be cast in the role of helplessrnvictims in need of paternalism. (A typicalrncartoon in the Final Call shows arnwell-dressed black woman pitching a storyrnidea to a white publisher. Her idea isrnfor a novel about “a together young blackrnwoman who nurtures and guides herrnchildren.” The publisher replies, “I’mrnafraid we simply aren’t in the market forrnfiction such as that.” When the womanrnmentions her character’s “abusive relationshipsrnwith a broken shell of a fatherrnand an irresponsible string of unemployablernor drug-crazed boyfriends,” thernpublisher leans forward and says, “Howrnsoon can you have that on my desk?rnLet’s talk movie options, here!”)rnIn the end, it does not matter to Farrakhanrnwhat whites think about blacks,rnfor his vision of unity and independencernrecognizes racial, not national, boundaries.rnHe sees the current struggles ofrnAfrican-Americans as only a prelude torntheir independent existence in a blackrnhomeland, which according to ElijahrnMuhammad’s manifesto the UnitedrnStates should subsidize in its eady years.rnRegardless of whether one likes Farrakhan’srnvision of black self-reliance, itrnremains a real alternative to the failedrnpolicies of the welfare state.rnMichael Washburn is the assistant editorrnof Chronicles.rn50/CHRONICLESrnrnrn