The head of a coalition of black pastors says Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) must end their “partisan hypocrisy” and denounce “leftist hate speech” such as that proclaimed by anti-Semite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
In a press release sent to Breitbart News, Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of African American Pastors (CAAP) refers to Farrakhan’s statement in a recent speech: “White folks are going down. And Satan is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has pulled the cover off of that Satanic Jew and I’m here to say your time is up, your world is through.”
Owens observes Waters was among those present at Farrakhan’s speech.
“Rep. Waters’ refusal to speak out against Farrakhan and other extremist hate speech is the perfect example of the hypocrisy and moral cowardice of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Owens says. “Rep. Waters lives in a multi-million dollar home, a stark contrast to the poor district she represents. She manipulates African American voters for her own gain. And she’s just one of many black leaders who have sold out our values.”
— Rev. William Owens (@caapusa) February 15, 2018
In February, Waters appeared on a BET special program that focused on President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address – though Waters herself did not attend the event as a protest against the president. She said, nevertheless, that Trump is a “racist.”
“One speech cannot and does not make Donald Trump presidential,” she said. “He’s not presidential, and he never will be presidential. He claims that’s bringing people together but make no mistake, he is a dangerous, unprincipled, divisive, and shameful racist.”
Additionally, in January, a photograph of then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and Farrakhan taken in 2005 at a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus was released after a 13-year cover-up to protect Obama’s political career.
Owens joined civil rights educator Dr. Alveda King and other black leaders in February to publicly rebuke the CBC as a “disgrace” and “traitors” to black Americans. The leaders accused CBC members of engaging in “childish” behavior during the State of the Union address, with their “sulking in their seats, texting, pretending to be disinterested.”
“Without question, the CBC’s foul demeanor has been a just cause to demand either ‘REPRESENT or GO AWAY,’” Owens said at the time. “I make a strong plea to the black community to embrace this position with openness and hear us out; we have been sidelined by traitors in Washington and must engage.”
Owens and his group have launched a petition to hold the CBC accountable to the “values and needs of the African American community.” The petition further says many “so-called ‘civil rights leaders’ have lost touch with the moral values of mainstream African Americans.”
“We’ve watched for years as Democratic politicians offered African Americans platitudes and promises in exchange for political loyalty,” Owens asserts, adding:
In the meantime, Democratic policies reduced our inner cities to crumbling, crime-ridden, economic wastelands. And yet, we are supposed to continue on, not questioning the policies or politicians that brought us to this point? African American voters have had enough of the double standards and hypocrisy. There is a great hunger for moral leadership in this country. If the Congressional Black Caucus does not step up to meet that demand, they will find themselves in need of new jobs.
“Politicians like Maxine Waters need to step up or go home,” Owens says. “We’ve had enough of their partisan games. They’re stooges of a party that enriches them, but does nothing to help the African American community.”
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