Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic House Minority Leader, has come under intense fire after an opinion article he wrote while in college resurfaced, appearing to defend his anti-semitic uncle, Leonard Jeffries.
Leonard was a college professor of Black Studies who, in the 1990s, condemned “rich Jews” and referred to them as puppet masters of the slave trade. He also claimed that Jews were deliberately organizing schemes against black people in America, per Newsweek.
In the same decades-old article, entitled “The Black Conservative Phenomenon,” Jeffries lashed out at Clarence Thomas following his appointment to the Supreme Court. Jeffries wrote that “there has been a recent trend in the Black political arena which I believe threatens to sustain the oppression of the Black masses,” going on to refer to this trend as “the Black conservative.”
Fox News reported that Jeffries went on to write in the piece that one major difference between a “Field Negro” and a “House Negro” was the former “labored from dusk ‘till dawn,” having “nothing but contempt for his white master,” whereas the latter “didn’t labor in the field, they were domestic servants,” seeking to “emulate the white master.”
"Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the rise of Black conservatives is that of their popular acceptance by the predominantly white media," Jeffries jotted.
"Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, and Shelby Steele are hailed as our leaders and pointed to as examples for us to follow. I find it suspect when the white power structure and their propaganda emissaries, the media, tell us who our leaders should be. Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who seek to dismantle their vice-like grip on power? Of course not."
However, Jeffries has attempted to evade the notion that he knew what his uncle was up to in the 1990s, claiming in 2013 that he only had a “vague” recollection surrounding Leonard’s political positions and views. But his own words seem to suggest that he fostered, and perhaps still does, negative perceptions of black people who do not hold the same political affiliations that he does.
During an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2013, Jeffries said: “There was no internet during that era and I can’t even recall a daily newspaper in the Binghamton, NY, area but it wasn’t covering the things that the New York Post and Daily News were at the time.”
But the opinion article that Jeffries wrote in 1992, while he was an undergraduate at Binghamton University, betrays his testimony. The piece is written in such a way that suggests he was more than up to speed on his uncle’s political affiliations, as well as his views on Jewish people. Newsweek reported that the article, which surfaced on Wednesday, appears to show that Jeffries was actively defending his uncle and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, while simultaneously referring to black conservatives as “house negroes” and expressing outrage by their acceptance by “white media,” per the report.
Jeffries wrote: "Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire. Where do you think their interests lie? Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremist educational system and long standing distortion of history. His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations."
Leonard Jeffries apparently continued with his tirade against Jews and black people who did not think like him, eventually being denounced by the Anti-Defamation League for years after his nephew attempted to come to his rescue. Leonard would ultimately lose his job at City University of New York after a slew of legal battles. Newsweek reported that Leonard also made references to Jews as “dogs” and “skunks” that will “stink you all up.”
