New York Times Should Report the Tragedy, Not Exploit It
The tragic murders of three Christians near Kansas City, Missouri, was rightly described by the Anti-Defamation League as a “cowardly, unspeakable and heinous act of violence.”
Certainly all can agree that White-on-White violence is as despicable as Black-on-Black violence. It is all the senseless product of a society that has lost its way to the oneness of God.
But when the media, which are presumably there to provide accurate accounts of these horrific incidents, instead exploit the tragedy to push their own agenda, they only compound the pain of the victims and further misinform the nation.
The so-called “paper of record,” the New York Times, did exactly that in the ninth paragraph of its initial “story” on the case (April 14th), written by Emma G. Fitzsimmons, titled “Man Kills 3 at Jewish Centers in Kansas City Suburb.” Contributing reporters included Ashley Southall, Joseph Goldstein, and John Eligon. The Times claimed that the shooting suspect, now identified as Frazier Glenn Miller, was a “fan” of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
But the New York Times appeared to have crafted the paragraph for the purpose of slandering the most powerful and effective Black leader in America and the world by associating him with an illegal, immoral act of violence. The nonsensical association of the American terrorist group Ku Klux Klan with its most potent enemy, the Nation of Islam, is the first of the Times’ spurious slanders. In a just-released 2010 interview, the suspect Miller expresses admiration for Min. Farrakhan, yet he calls Farrakhan’s people—Blacks—“mud people” and declares, “It is time for white people to unite, to join together, and to take our country back.” Obviously, this ideology is abhorrent to any sane Black person. The Times, and now other mainstream media, references the interview but strangely excludes the fact that Miller expressed admiration for conservative syndicated columnist Republican Patrick Buchanan, former Republican congressman Ron Paul, and even President of the United States Barack Obama.
To our knowledge none of these leaders have ever advocated indiscriminate violence. Minister Farrakhan’s TRUE fans and admirers agree with and adhere to The Nation of Islam’s long-standing internal policy since its beginning in 1930, whereby members are forbidden to carry on their persons or have in their homes so much as a penknife! Minister Farrakhan’s spotless record as a peace maker and truth teller is well known and attested to by many leaders and serious scholars.
Ironically, a letter allegedly written by Miller in 1987 that has just surfaced shows Miller to be spreading slanderous misstatements about Minister Farrakhan, misinformation he very likely read in the New York Times.
The New York Times curiously misidentifies The Minister as “the former leader” when it could not be easier to see and hear Minister Farrakhan referring to himself in the exceptional 58-part broadcast series THE TIME AND WHAT MUST BE DONE (2013-2014) as “National Representative of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” the leader of the Nation of Islam. The Times further confirms its foul intent by refusing to place any title before The Minister’s name, while eight times in the very same article it carefully placed “Mr.” before the name of the suspected killer.
This attempt to associate The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan with this criminal act of violence was both a libelous and a deliberate act by the New York Times and its owners, the Sulzberger family. It provided the basis and cover for political opportunists like attorney Alan Dershowitz to run to a “Breitbart-TV” interview, where in 8 minutes he managed to mention Min. Farrakhan’s name 3 times, but never once mentioned the name of the actual murder suspect, Frazier Glenn Miller. More to the point, Mr. Dershowitz rehearsed a lengthy history of “anti-Semitism” he claims was committed by the non-Jewish world—he even mentioned the titles of two of his books—but never once did he mention the names of the three Christian victims of the Kansas City tragedy. This is what opportunists do. For the enlightenment of the New York Times, “Breitbart TV,” and Mr. Dershowitz, the victims are Reat Griffin Underwood, 14; his grandfather, Dr. William Lewis Corporon; and Terri LaManno, 53, described as a mother who worked for the visually impaired.
All Americans and people of good will should allow the investigation to continue and pray that justice is done. The New York Times should strive to become a reputable source of news, rather than an exploiter of tragic events to push its racist agenda.