Seen On

by Mike Flannery
CHICAGO (CBS) ― The chair of the state Hate Crimes Commission on Friday spoke out for the first time since four members of her panel resigned.

As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, the Rev. Willie Barrow claims those resignations, two of which occurred Friday, were a terrible mistake.

At a Black Women's Expo event, Barrow had little sympathy for the four members of the Hate Crimes Commission she chairs, all of whom resigned this week because Gov. Rod Blagojevich refused to kick Sister Claudette Muhammad off the panel.

Muhammad serves as minister of protocol for Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.

"Not only should (Muhammad) continue to serve on the commission, but, I think those that resigned because they disagree, what have they done to bring about an agreement?" Barrow said.

When asked if the commissioners made a mistake, Barrow said: "I think so. I think we should be able to talk things over. That's why we have wars."

All four commissioners who have resigned are Jewish. They include Lonnie Nasatir of the Anti-Defamation League, Richard Hirschhaut of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Illinois State Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), and Howard Kaplan of the Jewish Federation.

Michael Kotzin, also of the Jewish Federation, said the trigger was Farrakhan's speech last Sunday referring to "wicked Jews" whom he accused of running Hollywood, controlling Congress and destroying America.

"(Farrakhan is) just using traditional bigotry, traditional anti-Semitism," Kotzin said, "and we have sadly learned the impact of those kinds of words, what's followed from those kinds of words through the centuries."

Kotzin added, "The bulk of our community feels in our guts what's going on and what this kind of language, what hate language is all about and how dangerous and damaging it can be.".

As the senior Jewish member of the Illinois General Assembly, Lang sent a strong signal on Thursday by agreeing to take a seat on the commission right after Nasatir vacated it.

But Lang suddenly resigned late Friday, after taking 24 hours of angry heat from constituents in his heavily Jewish district. Many reportedly complained that Farrakhan holds anti-Semitic views, and they feel that as long as Muhammad serves for Farrakhan, she has no place serving on a hate crimes commission.

One elected official defending Muhammad, State Sen. James Meeks (I-Calumet City), said he wants to speak about the issue at local synagogues.

Muhammad also has a strong defender in Rep. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood). When CBS 2 News informed Lightford of Lang's sudden resignation, she explained:

"Oh my God! That's unfortunate. Some people are hurt right now, I understand, but some people are using this situation."

Also jumping into the fight, a group supporting a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

That group is demanding that gay activist Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois be dumped from the hate crimes commission, because he has called Francis Cardinal George bigoted and compared him to racists for opposing gay marriage.

But the governor's office says Muhammad is staying on the commission, and so is Rick Garcia. Blagojevich himself has not commented on the issue.

The commission, with 20 to 30 members, was established in 1999 but eventually fell into disuse. Blagojevich appointed a new set of unpaid commissioners last summer. Their mission is to promote tolerance by working with law enforcement, religious leaders, educators and social service agencies. The full commission has only met in full twice since its reformation.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)