Ask a Congressional Candidate: Keith Ellison

[barondave]

My guest on the next Shockwave Radio will be Keith Ellison, Congressional Candidate. If he wins, he'll be my representative. Brief background: Minnesota's Fifth Congressional district (roughly South Minneapolis) is a safe, Scandahoovian-liberal Democratic stronghold. Our current Rep., Martin Olav Sabo, is stepping down after 28 years. Ellison is a comparatively young (42) lawyer currently in the MN legislature. He impressed the Democrats at their convention and was endorsed over several others. Party endorsement is a plus in Minnesota politics, but hardly a guarantee that he will win the primary.

I don't know much about Ellison, so I'm asking LJ people: What questions would YOU ask?

Ellison is making big news since Jesse Jackson is coming to town on Friday for an Ellison rally. He had a fairly critical write-up in today's conservative Mpls Star Tribune, Ellison's past views, ties drawing scrutiny. Ellison is black and Muslim, and had ties to Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. He has distanced himself from those days, but questions linger.

Ellison would be Congress' first Muslim member, which I regard as a great plus, and would be proud to have him as a representative... if I agreed with his positions and he convinced me that the anti-semitism that permeates the black community had worn off. Further, at this point, I think I'd vote for anyone, even a Republican, if they promised that their first act would be to impeach Bush.

Thoughts on Ellison? Questions?

Comments

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

Farrakhan eh?
Pin him down as to when he disassociated himself from that turd.
What prompted it?
If I was there I'd have serious issues about voting for him.


He became a public figure

He has come a long way from the days of making impassioned speeches while wearing bib overalls, to his days now on the floor of the Minnesota House, often wearing a crisp white shirt and suspenders while speaking on legislation.

Ellison emerged as a public figure during a time in Minneapolis when racial tensions were high and a number of incidents sparked protests and demonstrations, particularly against police brutality in Minneapolis.

He said he never sought membership in any Nation of Islam group, which has a small presence in the Twin Cities. But recognizing the impact the threat of the presence of the Nation of Islam could have on people during often tense meetings, he said he put on a bow-tie on occasion -- a la Farrakhan -- aware of the powerful and even threatening image it might convey. He was known to show up at meetings accompanied by looming but silent black men in suits.

As a law student at the University of Minnesota, he often spoke out against racism. He first appeared in the pages of the Star Tribune in 1988, raising concerns about racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on a pedestrian bridge at the university.


So which is it Mr Ellison?
The bow tie and the looming men, or the raising concerns about "racist and anti-semitic graffiti".
Which master does he serve?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

That article never says what the "often tense" meetings were about, does it? It also doesn't say what was in the letter to the Jewish Community Relations Council. It leads the reader to assume, but does not say that Ellison's march-organising was connected to the speech by Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

What unspeakably shitty reporting.

K.

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

Shitty it may be, however using the trappings to inspire an image....

he said he put on a bow-tie on occasion -- a la Farrakhan -- aware of the powerful and even threatening image it might convey. He was known to show up at meetings accompanied by looming but silent black men in suits.

Now, if the paper out an out lied about that, well, he should be hauling them into court, and I await his rebuttal saying he was misquoted and being able to prove it.
But, until he discredits it, it stands.
If I walked into a neighborhood meeting wearing a J.D.L. "uniform" I would expect repercussions in certain groups. I would also expect it to be remembered.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

This sort of thing makes me wonder why Christians are NEVER subjected to this sort of scrutiny about their theological beliefs. They're members of a large, splintered group that includes some members who bomb medical clinics, OR openly endorse the subordination of women, OR try to remove science from science classromm curricula OR oppose condom distribution.

Despite this, each citizen running for public office that identifies themselves as "Christian" is not required to atone for or account for the crimes of all of Christianity. I expect that people of the Islamic faith probably have a broad spectrum of believers and they might be afforded the same broad brush assumption that the majority of them aren't kooks.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Being Jewish, I look at Christian and Muslim candidates with the same outsider's eye. While it's a mistake to assume that millions of people will follow the same philosophy/religion the same way, I DO hold Christians accountable for people acting in the name of their religion. Maybe they give a good answer, but often they don't. We'll see what Ellison has to say. I don't want to harp on a subject he's been asked before but I do want to raise the issue.

[mle292.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'm with you on holding all Christians accountable for not calling their own onto the carpet when necessary.

The issue I'm trying to pin down is that THE dominant religion has the largest number of, and most bizarre, and most destructive nutjobs (and it seems sometimes the fewest people willing to hold those nutjobs accountable), and everyone of a less popular faith is held accountable for a significantly smaller number of kooks that are members of their faith.

Putting My Two Cents In

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

This sort of thing makes me wonder why Christians are NEVER subjected to this sort of scrutiny about their theological beliefs. They're members of a large, splintered group that includes some members who bomb medical clinics, OR openly endorse the subordination of women, OR try to remove science from science classromm curricula OR oppose condom distribution.

Despite this, each citizen running for public office that identifies themselves as "Christian" is not required to atone for or account for the crimes of all of Christianity. I expect that people of the Islamic faith probably have a broad spectrum of believers and they might be afforded the same broad brush assumption that the majority of them aren't kooks.

I have no trouble with Muslims, but Farrakan is dangerous as a person, and the stuff he advocates would likely hurt me because I'm Jewish (among other things).