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The Farrakhan Phenomenon: Race, Reaction, and the Paranoid Style in American Politics

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Louis Farrakhan is an unusually emotive subject in the United States, inspiring extreme feelings of love or hate; feelings that are not common in the American political psyche. Robert Singh, a British academic, examines the rise of the leader of the Nation of Islam, and tries to explain his ascendency within the confines of the politics of paranoia. Stiring Stuff indeed! Yet, be warned - this is not a journalistic account of the Nation of Islam, Farrakhan's style or racial politics in America today. Those looking for an 'easy read' should turn elsewhere. Instead, this is an academic work, with all the trappings to match - the complex language, the unnecessary terminology, and the cluttered page. (Singh seems to have a particular penchant for commas, and utter disregard for full stops). Having said that, however, this work is an intellegent look at one of the most divisive and important issues in America today. Robert Singh is careful in his approach to the subject and provides worthy anaylsis. My advice? - read it slowly, stick with it and be enlightened

Singh seeks to understand the causes of Farrakhan's rise and its implications for the United States; religion and worldview have only the slightest importance for this author, whereas black American politics are paramount. Although shakey on the Nation of Islam (referring mistakenly to its seven daily prayers and female Fruit of Islam guards) and also on conservative politics in the United States (thinking Farrakhan shares important features with Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan), Singh has a thorough grasp of American racial politics and a clear sense of his subject's place in them. Correctly, he de-emphasizes the importance of antisemitism to Farrakhan's message while placing much greater emphasis on his vituperative attacks on other black leaders. These are based on the leaders' social liberalism, which is so much out of tune with the electorate's conservatism: "Farrakhan's popular appeals are also in part based upon his persistent exploitation of the disjunctures between elite black attitudes and popular African-American beliefs." In Singh's view, the Nationa of Islam's (NOI) religious doctrines and Farrakhan's eclectic theological claims are most appropriately regarded as merely an embellishment of more fundamental traditionalist and populist political tenets." Arguing against those who see Farrakhan as a media creation, Singh points to his having built up a large constituency without help from the mainstream newspapers and television. He concludes from this that the best way to fend off Farrakhan's ugly and threatening influence is "to accord him the opportunity-and even the responsibility-for implementing effective political, economic, and social change." However scary this course, the author maintains, it is the best way to call a demagogue's bluff. Middle East Quarterly, December 1998

The pace of this book moves as briskly as that of a fry cook slapping out the patties for another day spent at one of our nation's greatest industries: fast food. At the Nation of Fry Cook, there are more patties waiting to be flame broiled for those hungry enough to slap down the moolah for the musk from the mosque -- and this book tells you how to cook 'em just right. Comes complete wid one of the Honorable and Most Reverend Louis Farrakhan's recipes for barbecue sauce.