To the Editor:

Minister Rodney Muhammad isn't very convincing in saying that the Nation of Islam is not a hate group ("Hate Group? No, Just Hated," op-ed, April 10).

The Nation of Islam, since its founding in the 1930s, has maintained a consistent record of racism and anti-Semitism under the guise of instilling African-Americans with a sense of empowerment.

Under the guidance of Louis Farrakhan, who has expressed anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric for nearly 30 years as the NOI's leader, the organization has used its programs, institutions and publications to disseminate its message of hate.

Farrakhan's bigoted and anti-Semitic rhetoric has included statements calling whites "blue-eyed devils" and Jews "bloodsuckers" who control the slave trade, the government, the media and various black individuals and organizations.

In 2006, he blamed Jews and Israel for the war in Iraq, controlling Hollywood and promoting what he considers immorality. In a 2007 interview, he charged, "the real anti-Semites are those who came out of Europe and settled in Palestine, and now they call themselves the true Jews when, in fact, they converted to Judaism."

Also in 2007, Farrakhan predicted, "the fall of the great Babylon, the United States of America." However Rodney Muhammad tries to spin the NOI, it remains what it's always been, a hate group.