This Tweet by libertarian Jesse Walker highlights a little-remembered aspect of black activism during World War II--support for both Evil Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany.
"What a paradox this was: The Japanese empire, which sought nothing but the occupation of Korea, Manchuria, and if possible, the whole Far East, was being cheered on by self-identified anti-colonial intellectuals." https://t.co/xxbcJmU5uE
You might be wondering: What is it with American blacks and commie dictators? Before Rodman swooned over Kim Jong-un there was Jesse Jackson dropping trou for Fidel Castro, quote: "Castro is the most honest and courageous politician I've ever met," end quote. That was in 1984. Thirty years before that there was Paul Robeson kissing up to Stalin and praising the Soviet suppression of Hungary’s 1956 uprising. The operative principle here is: My enemy’s enemy is my friend. A lot of blacks think of America as their enemy. Since the U.S.S.R., Castro’s Cuba, and North Korea are or were all enemies of the U.S.A., they must ipso facto be friends of the colored folk
I said that
It actually goes back even further, to World War II, during which Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad spent the war in behind bars in a Federal prison because he supported the Japanese side.
Muhammad hated the United States and loved its enemies, especially non-Caucasian ones. And so he rejoiced in the Japanese victory at Pearl Harbor in 1941, not only refusing to register for military service but instructing his followers to do likewise. Arrested for draft evasion in May 1942, he spent three years in jail on sedition charges, getting out in August 1946. [How Elijah Muhammad Won, By Daniel Pipes, Commentary Magazine June 2000 ]
In 2013, almost 70 years after Hitler’s death, being an amateur Nazi hunter is a sign of severe mental illness. During the Second World War, however, there were actual Nazis, Fascists, and Japanese Nationalists among America’s immigrant population — including, as Carlson saw for himself, among black immigrants from the British West Indies.
The reactions of the Nazis and the evil Empire of Japan to these overtures from America’s black population were somewhat tepid.
No doubt Jennifer Rubin would say that Rodman in a MAGA hat is another example of someone palling around with a dictator (I. E. Trump) but that’s not the same thing as supporing Hitler, Hirohito, Castro or Ho Chi Minh because you consider them fellow enemies of the white race.
