Hakeem Jeffries Under Fire Over Leaked College Editorial Comparing Clarence Thomas & Colin Powell To 'House Negroes''
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came under fire this week after it was revealed he once penned a college editorial defending his uncle from incendiary comments made against Jewish people — and compared Clarence Thomas to a "house negro," RadarOnline.com has learned.
The shocking revelation came after Jeffries initially claimed he had “vague recollections” about the controversy that took place roughly 30 years ago.
According to CNN, the controversy started after the Democratic congressman’s uncle – Black studies professor Leonard Jeffries – lost his teaching job in the early 1990s after claiming “rich Jews” were to blame for the African slave trade.
Jeffries’ uncle also faced backlash for claiming Jewish executives were responsible for “denigrating” Black Americas in movies by way of a “conspiracy, planned and plotted and programmed out of Hollywood.”
Although Congressman Jeffries has denounced the dangerous views shared by his uncle more than 30 years ago, he also claimed to only have “vague recollections” regarding the controversy.
“And so when a lot of the controversy took place my brother and I were away at school,” Jeffries told the Wall Street Journal in 2013 shortly after being elected to Congress.
“There was no Internet during that era and I can’t even recall a daily newspaper in the Binghamton, N.Y. area but it wasn’t covering the things that the New York Post and Daily News were at the time,” he continued.
But now, according to a February 1992 college editorial penned by Jeffries during his time at Binghamton University, it was revealed Jeffries not only knew about the controversy regarding his uncle but that he also defended his uncle’s incendiary remarks.
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“Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire,” Jeffries wrote in an editorial titled “The Black Conservative Phenomenon.” “Where do you think their interests lie?”
“Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremacist educational system and long-standing distortion of history,” he wrote further. “His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations.”
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Even more surprising is newly resurfaced evidence that Jeffries invited his embattled uncle to give a speech at Binghamton University after his uncle came under fire for allegations of antisemitism.
While Jeffries himself has not yet responded to the discovery of his 1992 college editorial defending his uncle, a spokesperson from the congressman’s office released a statement on Wednesday responding to the matter.
“Leader Jeffries has consistently been clear that he does not share the controversial views espoused by his uncle over thirty years ago,” spokesperson Christiana Stephenson said in a statement.
In the editorial, Jeffries also compared Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and other prominent Black conservative leaders to "House Negros."
"Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell, and Shelby Steele are hailed as our leaders and pointed to as examples for us to follow. I find it suspect when the white power structure and their propaganda emissaries, the media, tell us who our leaders should be. Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who seek to dismantle their vice-like grip on power? Of course not," he wrote.