(IPT) When you think about black civil rights groups in the United States, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) likely springs to mind. There are numerous others working on issues like voting rights, criminal justice reform and more.
Few people would consider the Nation of Islam (NoI) on the same plane. While supporters credit it for working to improve safety and life in some black communities, it is better known for its unusual theology and the hate speech its leaders have uttered for decades.
But Zahra Billoo, who runs the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) San Francisco office, appeared to cast the Nation, a black separatist movement whose leaders repeatedly espouse anti-Semitic and homophobic rhetoric, as a “black civil rights group.”
