Michigan's Democratic Gubernatorial Primary race just get a lot more interesting.
Over the weekend, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero rolled out a list of endorsements in a press release, and among some of the other names listed was one that may not be familiar at first, but is bound to raise a few eyebrows. That name is Minister Malik Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panther Movement, and someone who has advocated killing white police officers, the complete separation of the races through armed measures, and was even videotaped praising Osama Bin Laden.
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Bernero, the self proclaimed "Angriest Mayor in America," is endorsed by someone labeled as dangerous by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Now THAT'S anger you can believe in!
I'm going to go ahead and assume that Bernero doesn't actually believe in what Shabazz advocates and chalk this one up to bad judgment, or at best careless campaigning, but it seems almost laughable that nobody, whether it be Bernero or someone on his staff, would check into someone's credentials before accepting their endorsement. It isn't hard, as just typing "Malik Shabazz" into google yields all sorts of results. Like this nugget for example:
"Let’s talk about this brother, because he’s a bold man... Usama Bin Laden, Mr. Bin Laden. Gotta give him his respect. He’s not bowing down. He’s not cutting [?] the tap dance... Mr. Bin Laden standing up. There’s a man born in Saudi Arabia bringing reform, Mr. Bin Laden. But you’re not supposed to say these things about him. I thought we had free speech."
Or, this one:
In a recent interview with a Medialite reporter, Chairman of the New Black Panthers, Malik Shabazz, was asked about the vile comments from one of his chief lieutenants, King Shamir Shabbaz, in which he advocates the murder of white people and "their babies."
In the interview, Chairman Shabazz not only refuses to condemn those hateful words but said, that while he "would not focus on the babies," he "would focus on the cops."
I could go on, but suffice it to say that Mr. Shabazz has some views that the majority of Michigan voters probably don't agree with.
In contrast, Bernero's opponent, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, received the endorsement of former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer this morning. Archer, once considered a potential candidate for Governor himself, is widely praised as someone who could cross party lines and build coalitions to move Detroit, and Michigan, forward.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that Dillon got the better of the two endorsements this week.
UPDATE:
Someone directed me to this Michigan Messenger story that points out there are in fact two different Malik Shabazz' associated with the Black Panther Movement, and the quotes above were actually from the other one who resides outside of Michigan. I certainly didn't intend to misquote this individual, though as the story over at Michigan Messenger points out, this one has said their own share of puzzling statements and is also a strong supporter of racial segregation.
Coincidentally or not, the Bernero campaign is now claiming they have no idea how Shabazz' name even wound up on their press release and he has NOT endorsed their campaign. That certainly sounds like backpeddling to me, but in any case I was incorrect in attributing those quotes to this particular Malik Shabazz and apologize for the confusion.