Tim Russert's interview with Minister Louis Farrakhan

Tim Russert's interview with Minister Louis Farrakhan

[Editor's Note: In a much talked about interview, the Honorable Louis Farrakhan appeared April 13, 1997 on NBC television's "Meet the Press." He was interviewed by Tim Russert and David Broder. The following text is excerpted from the interview.] Tim Russert: Once a week. On the back page is The Muslim Program, "What the Muslims Want." And if I can go through a few of these--let me put one on the screen and get your reaction. The first is in terms of territory, and you'll see, "Since we cannot get along with them in peace and equality, we believe our contributions to this land and the suffering forced upon us by white America justifies our demand for complete separation in a state or territory of our own." Is that your view in 1997, a separate state for Black Americans? Minister Louis Farrakhan: First, the program starts with number one. That is number four. The first part of that program is that we want freedom, a full and complete freedom. The second is, we want justice. We want equal justice under the law, and we want justice applied equally to all, regardless of race or class or color. And the third is that we want equality. We want equal membership in society with the best in civilized society. If we can get that within the political, economic, social system of America, there's no need for point number four. But if we cannot get along in peace after giving America 400 years of our service and sweat and labor, then, of course, separation would be the solution to our race problem.

African-American News 6/17/08 7:33 AM