Keith Ellison is hoping that Minneapolis, a city of mostly white Christians, is ready to make a black Muslim its next congressman. Ellison, a state representative and criminal defense lawyer, is the Democratic-Farmer-Labor-endorsed candidate in the liberal-leaning 5th Congressional District. That makes him the favorite in his quest to become the first Muslim member of Congress. But Ellison is dogged by questions about his faith, particularly after disclosures about his past associations with the Nation of Islam, a group led by Louis Farrakhan.
While Ellison has since denounced Farrakhan, Jewish leaders say the candidate's ties to the organization remain an issue. "For Jews, there's no ambiguity when it comes to the Nation of Islam," said Stephen Silberfarb, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. "It's a group that hates the Jewish people."
Around 1990, Ellison — then a University of Minnesota law student known as Keith E. Hakim — wrote several columns in the student newspaper that are getting a second look. One column defended Farrakhan against charges of anti-Semitism; a second suggested the creation of a state for black residents. In 1995, Ellison helped organize a delegation to Farrakhan's Million Man March in Washington...
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