Farrakhan: Give African Americans Our Own Courts

Controversial minister Louis Farrakhan offered up a controversial idea yesterday at the Nation of Islam's annual convention in Detroit: The black community should have its own court system, because the existing system is biased against African Americans. "We want equal justice under the law," Farrakhan said, according to the Free Press. He specifically called out controversial "Stand Your Ground" laws, the Detroit News reports. "How long must we let people stand their ground, shooting us and getting away with it? ... Our people can’t take much more. We have to have our own courts. You failed us." He suggested the new legal system be set up using the Koran and the Bible as guides.

"Has America been just to us?" he asked, and the crowd replied, "No." "So," he continued, "if we retaliate, you can bring out your soldiers. We got some, too." Farrakhan, who was joined onstage by the Detroit City Council president, US Rep. John Conyers, and a few Christian pastors, also denied claims that he is anti-Semitic, saying, "Did Jesus have a problem with the Jews of his day? He’s not a hater. Neither am I. I don’t hate Jewish people ... what I hate is evil." Yet he also slammed Jews, claiming they control the publishing industry and use it to misrepresent black leaders, the AP reports. (More Louis Farrakhan stories.)