A Word About Louis Farrakhan and Tamika Mallory

Louis Farrakhan; Tomika Mallory (Photo: Carlos Osorio (AP Photo); Bebeto Matthews (AP Photo))

Story by The Root
Written by Terrell Jermaine Starr

Women’s March Co-President Tamika Mallory’s public image has been taking a drumming all week since news broke of her attendance at the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviour’s Day, during which Minister Louis Farrakhan delivered a speech with anti-Semitic commentary.

The speech was delivered at the end of February, but Twitter went ablaze last weekend after CNN’s Jake Tapper posted footage on Twitter with time stamps indicating where Farrakhan made the incendiary remarks. An Instagram post Mallory shared from the event was amplified on social media, further drawing sharp reactions from progressives and others.

Public statements from the Women’s March and from Mallory, released on NewsOne Wednesday explaining how the NOI was with her when the father of her son was killed some 17 years ago, haven’t abated media scrutiny.

On Thursday, CBS ran with the headline, “Women’s March Leader Tamika Mallory Defends Relationship With Farrakhan.” The Washington Post ran a column Wednesday titled, “The Anti-Semite Who’s Haunting the Left.” Headlines with even harsher critiques of Mallory and other co-leaders of the Women’s March ran in days prior.

Some of Mallory’s supporters wonder why she’s being held accountable for Farrakhan’s words and that pressure for her to do so reinforces how black women are held accountable in ways white women rarely—if ever—confront. Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other white women are regularly interviewed on network television as officials of the Trump administration, but face no consequences for supporting a white supremacist president. White female Trump supporters are often painted in a sympathetic light in mainstream media, never pressed to answer for electing a racist and alleged sexual abuser.

A letter emailed to The Root by a group of black women outlined their support of Mallory, reading in part, “We denounce any effort to smear Ms. Mallory’s reputation as one of our country’s most promising bridge builders of people of all backgrounds. We stand united against those attacks and encourage the Women’s March to stand united as a diverse body of women and to guard against judgements based on association.”
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Read more:
The Root: https://www.theroot.com/a-word-about-louis-farrakhan-and-tamika-mallory-1823607435
CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/womens-march-leader-defends-relationship-with-farrakhan/
Washington Times: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/mar/9/planned-parenthood-cuts-ties-womens-march-leader-o/