Louis Farrakhan, a Nation of Islam leader, compared Jews to “termites” in a speech earlier this week, even going so far as to post a video of him making the comparison on his Twitter account.
A spokesperson for Twitter has reportedly stated that Farrakhan’s statements do not violate Twitter’s user policy, because “the policy on dehumanizing language has not yet been implemented.”
Here’s what you need to know.
Farrakhan Made the Remarks at a Sunday Speech in Detroit
In his speech, Farrakhan said,
“Now, white folk don’t like Farrakhan. Some of them respect me. But those who have been our deceivers, they can’t stand me. I’m not mad with you. In fact, to the members of the Jewish community that don’t like me, thank you very much for putting my name all over the planet because of your fear of what we represent, I can go anywhere in the world and they’ve heard of Farrakhan. Thank you very much. I’m not mad at you, because you’re so stupid. Don’t you know my teacher, Elijah Muhammed, taught me one day: he said, ‘There once was a donkey that fell in a ditch, and everybody came along and picked up a stone and threw it at the donkey. They threw so many stones til the ditch got filled up, and the donkey walked out.’ So my teacher said, ‘Brother, remember: every knock is a boost.’ So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me anti-Semite…I’m anti-Termite. I don’t know nothing about hating somebody because of their religious preference.”
Farrakhan later doubled down on his remarks, tweeting the video along with the caption, “I’m not anti-Semite. I’m anti-Termite.”
Farrakhan Said In the Same Speech That He Supports Kanye West’s Claim That The United States Should Repeal the 13th Amendment
In the same speech in Detroit, Farrakhan said he supported and agreed with Kanye West, in regard to West’s belief that the 13th Amendment should be abolished.