Mr. Bob Wright
President
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Dear Mr. Wright:
We recognize the right of NBC to choose the guests to be
interviewed on the network's news programs. At the same time, we feel obligated to express
our shock at seeing Minister Louis Farrakhan being interviewed again by Tim Russert on Meet
the Press, on Sunday, October 18. While an interview with Minister Farrakhan at the
time of the Million Man March could be deemed a legitimate and timely news item, featuring
him as a moral authority on national issues on such a prestigious program is as ironic as
it is outrageous.
Our point is not censorship, but responsibility.
Responsible people concerned about serious public issues cannot
ignore Farrakhan's consistent and unrepentant record of anti-Semitism and hate targeting
whites, gays, and mainstream Black leaders. On yesterday's program, true to form,
Farrakhan blamed Jews for controlling and oppressing Blacks, saying, "they are the
greatest controllers of Black minds, Black intelligence."
If ever there was a demonstration of how marginal the need for
Farrakhan is on Meet the Press, it was on Sunday's show in his response to Mr. Russert's
question about Jews, Zionists, and the Clinton case. Farrakhan repeated some of his worst
anti-Semitic ravings and his lunatic conspiracy theories.
Interviews such as yesterday's give unwarranted status to
Farrakhan as a Black leader while offering him an opportunity to propagate his message of
hate which we have all heard before. By now the public knows who Farrakhan is and what he
stands for, and so does Meet the Press which has interviewed him three times.
Sincerely,
Abraham H. Foxman
National Director
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