Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Touchy American Race Issues

Farrakhan: Mexican president was right
He says blacks don't want jobs that immigrants take
Monday, August 15, 2005 Posted: 1536 GMT (2336 HKT)
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan said Mexican President Vicente Fox was right to say that Mexican immigrants take jobs "that not even blacks want."
Although Fox was sharply criticized for his remarks by some black leaders, Farrakhan said Sunday that blacks do not want to go to farms and pick fruit because they already "picked enough cotton."
"Why are you so foolishly sensitive when somebody is telling you the truth?" he asked the crowd at Mercy Memorial Baptist Church.
He said blacks and Latinos should form an alliance to correct differences and animosity between the two communities.
Civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton, condemned the remark. Some leaders called on Fox to apologize.
Fox has said he was commenting on the contributions that Mexicans make to the United States, and did not mean any offense.
Farrakhan, who spearheaded the 1995 Million Man March that drew hundreds of thousands of people to Washington, was in Milwaukee to promote the Millions More Movement, which has scheduled a rally October 15 on the National Mall.
The march is billed as a more inclusive successor to the Million Man March.
This time, organizers have encouraged women and gays to attend.

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