Was Hitler Overrated?

Was Hitler Overrated:

The Evil That Men Do

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott

Starting this weekend, millions of Jewish people will mourn one of the most tragic events in the history of mankind; The Holocaust. There will be many discussions and observances surrounding the universal epitome of absolute evil, Adolf Hitler.

However, as a descendant of the millions of Africans who were killed during the TransAtlantic Slave Trade, I have always had one burning question. Was Hitler overrated ?

Don’t get me wrong, I despise der Fuhrer and everything he stood for. And I believe that every Jewish person should make a vow to make a pilgrimage to spit on Hitler’s grave at least once in his or her lifetime.

There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler was one of the most despicable people to ever walk the planet.

However, for African Americans, he would not even make the David Letterman’s Top 10 list.

From a Black standpoint, there are many men whom we would consider more evil than Hitler. There is no doubt that his idea of a superior Aryan race left my ancestors out of the equation. However, for Black folk , Aryan superiority and white supremacy are one in the same.

Now this is not an attempt to qualify or even quantify human suffering ,as every life is precious, whether it be one or one million. But it is problematic when you can ask a little Black child in Southside Chicago who was the worst man to ever live and he will ,automatically, yell out Adolf Hitler, while not having a clue about the evil committed against his own people by evil men, past and present.

We can start with the Portuguese invaders who kicked off the TransAtlantic Slave trade , which resulted in the deaths of between 60 million and 200 million Africans. The reason why an exact number is hard to pin down is because nobody cared. The body bags of my ancestors were not numbered for loss of life but for loss of income, so the “official” numbers only reflect how much “cargo” was lost by the slave traders.

We cannot forget about the colonizers and exploiters of Africa like King Leopold and Cecil Rhodes who were responsible for the deaths of millions of Africans and the raping our motherland. But since Africans were considered savages, their slaughters were considered strictly business.

At one point in this country the murder of Black people was considered legal , partly because the enslaved Africans were not considered human. Even though some may argue it was just for “tax purposes”, Black people were still considered 3/5 human by the framers of the Constitution and there is nothing in the way in which they were treated to contradict that ideology.

One could also point to the early founders of the Ku Klux Klan and other white terrorists groups who were responsible for the lynchings of thousands of Black men and women. Or those responsible for the tragic events at Tulsa, Oklahoma and Rosewood where many African Americans were murdered.

During the Civil Rights Era, what about the men responsible for bombing a Birmingham church, killing four little innocent girls or the murders of Emmett Till ?

Or how about law enforcement officers like Bull Connor who would sic police dogs on children or J. Edgar Hoover, who was responsible for The COINTELPRO program that wiped out many of the Black leaders of the 60’s, leaving a void in the Black community that  has yet to be filled, today.

Furthermore, what about those who are responsible for bringing’ guns and drugs in the ‘hood that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of young Black men and women. And also, the entertainment executives who have grown filthy rich exploiting this cycle of death in the movies and on the radio?

What is most disturbing is that we are not allowed to grieve over our suffering, we are told to “forgive and forget or “stop living in the past.” While the Jewish cry of “Never Forget” is widely respected.

So the main reason why we don’t have a “Hitler” to point to as the personification of the evil that men do, is because for Black people, there are just too many to name.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s website is No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com Follow on Twitter @truthminista

Black-Jewish Relations Under Obama

Black Jewish Relations Under Obama:

Reopening Old Wounds

Paul Scott

April 21st is Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day set aside to remember the the Jews who suffered under the Nazi regime. No one can fault an ethnic group for honoring the deaths of millions of its brothers and sisters. However, as a descendant of those who experienced their own African Holocaust I find myself, selfishly, asking "what about us ?"

My feeling of unapologetic, self centeredness has become more pronounced in the aftermath of the Obama Administration's bowing to Jewish pressure and deciding to boycott the UN World Conference Against Racism, an event that would have, initially,allowed issues important to African Americans such as reparations and the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade to be presented on the world stage. This was especially hurtful to a black community that had the misconception that the nations first African American president would give their issues a fair hearing.

For many blacks, this opened up an old wound; Jewish issues taking precedence over African American concerns.

Very few people argue over the death toll of six million Jews during their Holocaust, however for African Americans it is much different. The number of African people who were brought to America is conservatively estimated at 40 Million. How many Africans perished during the 400 years of the slave trade and the following years of European colonialism the world may never know. Reason being, the concern for people of color pales in comparison to concern for people with white skin.

There is only room for one "most persecuted" group and the Jews aren't sharing that spotlight with anyone.

Some of the best critiques of Black-Jewish relations were written by Harold Cruse in his books "Crisis of the Negro Intellectual" and "Plural but Equal." Cruse points out that contrary to popular belief, there was no real African American-Jewish alliance prior to 1913. It was not until the trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish man, convicted for murder based on the testimony of a black man and later lynched by a white mob that Jewish Americans developed any solidarity with the plight of black people. Prior to that the Jews were just as ambivalent towards the plight of blacks as other white folks.

But this fact is not discussed for fear of being labeled an anti-semite.

Black anti -semitism is , in itself, a misnomer. If you look at the actual definition of a Semite, it can apply to members of many ethnic groups of the Afro-Asiatic world; a fact that is conveniently left out of discussions.

If anything, African Americans are Jew phobic. There is a fear, whether real or imagined that if you say anything against Jewish people, something very bad is going to happen to you.

Part of this fear is theological.

Since the enslaved Africans, in this country, were forbidden to read the Bible, they were unable to develop a theology that placed their struggle in the context of the Divine Being's master plan. Therefore, any group that claims the title of "God's Chosen people" is readily accepted by African Americans, without question. This places them at a distinct disadvantage when dealing with other cultures which have historically made their culture synonymous with their religion.

The fear has also been socio-politically based.

There is a fear among African Americans that being labled an "enemy to the Jews" could result in anything from losing a political office, getting evicted from one's home to being blacklisted by any industry having a high Jewish ownership.

Whether real or imagined, these fears are not, totally, without precedent and the animosity over the control that many believe Jews exert over black lives remains.

Despite the good that Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have done cleaning up drug infested, black neighborhoods any positive comments about the ministry are blocked by charges of anti-semitism. In the political realm, Rev. Jesse Jackson had his presidential runs of the 1980's severely impacted by the charge. Also during this period, politicians such as former Chicago political aid, Steve Cokely, lost his job because of charges of making anti-Jewish statements.

Black entertainers have been affected, as well. At the top of his popularity, "the King of Pop" Michael Jackson was dethroned by Jewish activists for mouthing the lyrics "Jew me, sue me" on the controversial song "They Don't Care About Us." Also, many believe that it is more than a coincidence that the top rated Arsenio Hall Show was canceled shortly after the appearance of Min. Louis Farrakhan on the program.

As uncompromising as Hip hop claims to be, even it has been impacted. During the late 80's, the rap group Public Enemy came under intense scrutiny for comments that group member Professor Griff, allegedly, made that offended Jewish leaders. Even Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs had to censor the lyric "stack chips like Hebrews" from the hit record "All About the Benjamins." The irony being that calls from African American women for rappers to recording misogynistic lyrics fall on deaf ears.

While the calls often go out to open channels of dialogue between the black and Jewish communities, this cannot be done without open and honest communication. Before we can move forward, we have to heal the old wounds of the past. This can only be done by cultural education which must begin with an African American community that has little knowledge of its own history.

Unfortunately, the African American scholars who have been capable of bringing historical clarity to the issue like Dr. Tony Martin and Dr. Leonard Jeffries have, themselves, been demonized as anti-Semites.

On April 21st millions of Jews will repeat the phrase, never forget!" Unfortunately, for African Americans, we cannot forget that which we have never been allowed to learn.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283