Silence, Blacks, and Louis Farrakhan

March 12, 2018 By Michael Curtis
 

Silence may be the perfect herald of joy but sometimes has unfortunate consequences. Sir Thomas More, 16th-century lawyer and Lord High Chancellor of England in 1532, refused to approve the decision of King Henry VIII to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and as a result was tried for high treason and executed. In the play A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, based on this issue, the question of the interpretation of silence is disputed. The prosecution asserted that More's silence on the King's action meant denial. More replied that the maxim of the law is "Silence gives consent." Therefore, "You must construe that I consented." ............. In the United States the silence is deafening on the part of the media and Twitter concerning members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and others tolerant of or not critical of the raucous bigoted rhetoric of Louis Farrakhan (once Louis Walcott and Louis X), the African-American activist who has been leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) since 1975 after considerable infighting within the organization. Its current membership is said to be 50,000.........To Read More.....