And so it goes.
In the latest development regarding the appointment of Nation of Islam adviser Sister Claudette Marie Muhammad to the state's hate-crime commission, Gov. Rod Blagojevich defended the move. After staying silent for some time, Blagojevich said on March 9 that the controversy has revealed boiling tensions that need to be cooled, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
'What we need to do here is ask people to cool their passions, reduce their tempers and try to bring people together to find understanding and try to reach common ground,' the governor said in Bolingbrook.
Five Jewish members of the commission have resigned in response to the appointment. Among those who have resigned is Lonnie Nasatir, regional director of Anti-Defamation League's ( ADL's ) Greater Chicago/Upper Midwest Region. Nasatir has also written a letter to Blagojevich, asking that Muhammad ( also known as Claudette Marie Johnson ) be removed.
In an article published in the March 1 issue of Windy City Times, Nasatir said that he balked at an invitation that Muhammad extended to the commissioners to hear Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan speak at the annual Saviours' Day discourse that took place Feb. 26. He said it was not right to be invited to hear someone 'put down my people.' [ On its Web site, the ADL has quotes from Farrakhan that the group contends are anti-Semitic and anti-white. ]
However, Equality Illinois Political Director Rick Garcia did attend the speech. He told Windy City Times in the same article that the lecture was 'vintage Farrakhan'—a mixed bag. Regarding Muhammad, he said that ' [ s ] o far, she has been nothing but the embodiment of what the committee should be about.' Moreover, in a subsequent voicemail message, Garcia declared that all of the gay members of the commission—a group that includes State Rep. Larry McKeon, Shannon Sullivan of the Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation, Laura McAlpine of the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and himself—plan on remaining on the board.
However, in a move that reveals the developing schism in the LGBT community, the gay political organization known as Stonewall Democrats Illinois issued a press release March 8 calling for Muhammad's removal. Organization President Rick Ingram said ' [ w ] hen you combine her ridicule of her critics with her refusal to repudiate Farrakhan's speech, it leaves us no choice but to conclude that she is in agreement, and there is no room on the Commission for anyone who represents a position advocating hate.'
Muhammad defended herself on WVON-AM on March 7, remarking that condemning her because of Farrakhan's words is 'ridiculous.'