The House Republicans’ campaign arm is tearing into Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries over an op-ed he wrote in college defending his uncle who made anti-semitic remarks and referring to black conservatives as ‘House N*****s.’
‘There is a bigot leading House Democrats in Congress, and his name is Hakeem Jeffries,’ the new ad launched by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) says.
It flashes to photos of Jeffries’ uncle, black studies professor Leonard Jeffries, an notes that he’s called Judaism a ‘dirty religion’ and praised Adolf Hitler.
‘Jeffries even called black conservatives ‘House n*****s.’ No, your ears aren’t playing tricks on you – ‘House n*****s.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. accused of being a bigot by Republicans for writing an op-ed he wrote in college defending his uncle who made anti-semitic remarks and referred to black conservatives as ‘House N*****s.’
‘Why don’t House Democrats apologize for his shameful beliefs?’
‘Are House Democrats silent because they agree?’ the ad closes out.
‘Hakeem Jeffries lied about his well-documented defense of bigots and anti-Semites,’ said NRCC press secretary Will Reinert. He claimed Democrats’ silence on the matter amounts to ‘tacit agreement.’
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., a Jewish member, defended Jeffries earlier this week in comments to Punchbowl – ‘I can personally attest American Jews and Israel are lucky to have [Jeffries] as an unflinching supporter and champion.’
The minority leader is leaving on a trip to Israel and Ghana Thursday evening,
Jeffries has said he has only a ‘vague recollection’ of the controversy surrounding his anti-semite uncle but wrote a fiery op-ed in college defending him.
The minority leader’s Black Studies Professor Leonard Jeffries faced backlash in the 1990s after making comments about the involvement of ‘rich Jews’ in the slave trade and of Jewish executives launching ‘a conspiracy, planned and plotted and programmed out of Hollywood’ to denigrate Black Americans in films.
When Jeffries was a college student at Binghamton University in New York, he wrote an editorial in 1992 defending his uncle and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. The school’s Black Student Union, where Jeffries was an executive board member, had invited the university professor to speak after the controversy.
The younger Jeffries began his editorial by warning that the ‘rise of the black conservative’ would threaten to ‘sustain the oppression of the black masses,’ referring to the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas.
He likened black Republicans to ‘House n*****s’ who ‘sought to emulate the white master,’ according to a copy of the document unearthed by CNN.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ 1992 editorial
He questioned why the media had built up black people like Thomas, former Sec. of State Colin Powell and author Shelby Steele.
‘Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who would seek to dismantle their vice-like grip on power?’ Jeffries asked.
The Democratic leader is pictured lower in this story smiling beside Powell.
‘Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire. Where do you think their interests lie?’ he continued, suggesting the pair were better representatives of black interests.
‘Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremist [sic] educational system and long standing distortion of history. His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations.’
Jeffries wrote the piece for The Vanguard, the BSU student newspaper.
The younger Jeffries then went on to say conservatism does not represent black people because it stands against the ‘redistribution of wealth.’
‘Conservative political thought rejects the redistribution of wealth. Conservative political thought shuns social reforms and favors a huge defense industry. Conservative political thought does not advocate Civil Rights advances.’
Jeffries went on to attack capitalism: ‘The black conservative buys into the idea of the American dream, the dream in which hard work and perseverance eventually liberate and reap benefits. However, this totally ignores the economic reality of this country’s capitalist system. Capitalism necessitates the perpetuation of a permanent underclass.’
Jeffries’ office insisted that he does not share the views his uncle did ‘over 30 years ago.’
‘Leader Jeffries has consistently been clear that he does not share the controversial views espoused by his uncle over thirty years ago,’ spokesperson Christiana Stephenson told CNN.
Leonard Jeffries Jr., Professor of Black Studies at the City College of New York, pictured in Harlem, New York City, 1991
Jeffries, right, questioned why the media had built up black people like Thomas, former Sec. of State Colin Powell, left, and author Shelby Steele. ‘Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who would seek to dismantle their vice like grip on power?’ Jeffries asked
Like Leonard Jeffries, Farrakhan came under fire for explosive remarks about Jews – once praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the 1980s as a ‘great man’ and calling Judaism a ‘dirty religion.’
Jeffries told the Wall Street Journal in 2013 he had only ‘a vague recollection’ of the controversies with his uncle as he had been away at college. He remembered it as a tough time for his father and claimed his mother tried to shield him and his brother from the fallout.
‘And so, when a lot of the controversy took place, and my brother and I were away at school,’ Jeffries said. ‘There was no Internet during that era, and I can’t even recall a daily newspaper in the Binghamton, N.Y., area but it wasn’t covering the things that the New York Post and Daily News were at the time.’
In another Wall Street Journal report, Jeffries said he had not even looked at his uncle’s most controversial speeches.
But after backlash followed when the Black Student Union (BSU) invited Leonard Jeffries, Hakeem and the BSU held a press conference to defend him.
‘We have no intention of canceling a presentation that contains factual information, proven through scholarly documents and texts,’ Jeffries reportedly said.
In 2012 the Anti-Defamation League quoted Leonard Jeffries as saying: ‘The evil genius of the Jewish community was to put together their powers to make business their religion and make it part of their culture.’
In 1994 the Associated Press reported him saying: ‘Jews were like ‘skunks’ and ‘stunk up everything.”
Jeffries poses on the campus of his alma mater, Binghamton University
Asked about the comment, Professor Jeffries said, ‘he did not remember it,’ adding, ‘Isn’t there free speech in America?’
He was condemned at the time by New York Gov. Mario Cuomo and New York City Mayor David Dinkin, eventually leaving his position as chair of the Black Studies Department at City University of New York in 1995.
Then-student Jeffries went on to explain his comparison of black conservatives to ‘house n*****s.’
‘During the period of African enslavement, our ancestors were given the duality of the Field Negro and the House Negro. The Field Negro labored from dawn ’till dusk, had nothing but contempt for his white master, and most importantly, the majority of Black slaves, who were Field Negroes. In contemporary terms, what we would refer to as ‘the masses.’ The House Negroes didn’t labor in the field, they were domestic servants. The House Negro was dressed up and was led to believe that he or she was better than those in the field. Most importantly, the House Negro sought to emulate the white master. This emulation was not designed with the interests of the masses at heart. Rather, the motivating force was personal gain.
‘Perhaps this is the problem with the Black conservative politician of today. Their political agenda is not designed to contribute to the upliftment of their people. These right-wing opportunists espouse the political ideology of the power structure and, in return, they are elevated to positions historically reserved for whites.’
And according to local press coverage, Professor Jeffries spent much of his speech at the college defending himself against anti-semitism charges but reiterated his message about ‘anti-black’ Jewish moguls in Hollywood. He reportedly compared Jewish opposition to his speech to Nazism.
‘It’s ironic that members of the Jewish community felt compelled to take a position that is antidemocratic and….pro-Nazi in its viciousness,’ he said.
