At a speech yesterday at the University of Illinois Farrakhan said the nation is "on the way down to the pit of hell." "You can't maintain a nation with weapons," he said. "You do it with education. This society's on its way down unless you open your eyes. What torch will Bush or Kerry pass on to you?" He said President Bush has created such a shambles of the country's reputation and resources, John Kerry won't be able to salvage it, no matter what he promises. Farrakhan blasted black men for failing to realize their potential, for failing to raise their children and for "hanging out on the corner getting high." And he blasted black women for not valuing their intelligence, their bodies and their potential. He said the Muslim world veils its women because "they're sacred to us." "A black man has to be a real man today," Farrakhan said. "The right kind of knowledge makes a man a man, not a sex organ. We're in the wilderness here. You're acting wild. That's how dangerous black communities have become." He challenged black youth to lead fundamental changes in society. "This country has the potential of being the greatest human experiment in the world," he said. "It's messed up. Can you change it? We don't have a democracy. It's chicanery. You have to make America a real democracy." [more
]