Al-Qaida leader calls Obama a "house negro"

Qaeda leader calls Obama a 'House Negro'

Keith Boykin
The Daily Voice
Posted November 19, 2008 9:00 AM

The No. 2 man in Al-Qaida, Ayman al-Zawahri, launched into an attack on newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama today, calling him a "house negro."

The audio message was reportedly posted on "militant Web sites" on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. In the message, al-Zawahri describes Obama as "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X.

The audio reportedly plays over still pictures of al-Zawahri, Malcolm X praying, and Obama with Jewish leaders, according to AP, which calls it the first public al-Qaida comment about Obama's electoral victory.

alzawahiri.jpgThe Al-Qaida leader specifically criticized Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan, which he said would fail because of Afghan resistance.

Asked for a comment about the remarks, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold told CNN this morning that Al-Qaida is "frustrated and worried" because they don't know how to handle the positive international reaction to Obama's election.

"I think they're pretty nervous in Al-Qaida because we have a whole new approach here in the United States," said Feingold. "We have a new unity behind our president-elect. He sends a message to the world that represents us the way we really are -- a country that is diverse and that wants to reach out to the rest of the world in a positive way." Feingold said the new U.S. approach "goes completely against" Al-Qaida efforts to recruit people with their "hateful message."

Feingold, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the U.S. would be able to put "far more pressure" on the terrorist group by focusing its efforts on Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

The term "house negro" is a derogatory term used to describe a black person who represents the interests of the white man. Malcolm X proudly called himself a "field negro" and challenged the "house negro" mentality in his speeches and writings.

"Back during slavery, when black people like me talked to the slaves they didn't kill em; they sent some old house negro along behind him to undo what he said," Malcolm X said in a speech shown below.

"There were two kinds of negroes," he said. "There was that old house negro and the field negro and the house negro always looked out for his master. When the field negroes got too much out of line, he held them back in check. He put them back on the plantation. The house negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the field negro. He ate better, he dressed better and he lived in a better house. He lived right up next to his master in the attic, or the basement. He ate the same food as master ate and wore his same clothes. And he could talk just like his master, good diction."

The difference, of course, is that President-elect Obama would not be a mere house servant in the White House. Instead, he would be the head of the household.

The Obama campaign declined to comment.