page_title: African American–Jewish relations
section_title: Nation of Islam
hierarchical_section_title: African American–Jewish relations / Anti-Semitism among African Americans / Nation of Islam
caption_attribution_description: English: Louis Farrakhan
context_page_description: African Americans and Jewish Americans have interacted throughout much of the history of the United States. This relationship has included widely publicized cooperation and conflict, and—since the 1970s—has been an area of significant academic research. Cooperation during the Civil Rights Movement was strategic and significant, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
  The relationship has also featured conflict and controversy related to such topics as the Black Power movement, Zionism, affirmative action, and the antisemitic canard concerning the alleged role of American and Caribbean-based Jews in the Atlantic slave trade.
context_section_description: The Nation of Islam, a black religious and political group, expressed several anti-Semitic pronouncements in the late 20th century. The group's founder, Elijah Muhammad, targeted whites in general, and he also asserted that whites—as well as Jews—are devils, implicated in the history of racism against blacks. But he did not consider Jews to be any more corrupt or oppressive than other whites were.
  In 1993, Nation of Islam spokesman Khalid Abdul Muhammad called Jews "bloodsuckers" in a public speech, leading to widespread public condemnation. The Nation of Islam's current leader, Louis Farrakhan, has made several remarks that the Anti-Defamation League and others consider anti-Semitic. He is alleged to have referred to Judaism as a "dirty religion" and he is also alleged to have called Adolf Hitler a "very great man"; Farrakhan denied these claims but a tape obtained by The New York Times supports the claim that he did and that he praised Hitler.
  Elijah Muhammad claimed that blacks—not whites or Europeanized Jews—are the chosen people. Louis Farrakhan, has also claimed that African Americans are the chosen people. In a 1985 speech, Farrakhan said "I have a problem with Jews ... because I am declaring to the world that they are not the chosen people of God. ... You, the black people of America and the Western Hemisphere [are]."
caption: Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, has made several remarks that the Anti-Defamation League and others consider anti-Semitic
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