An Illinois school official sparked outrage online in February over his unapologetic endorsement of Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.
The Waukegan Public School District appointed Chris Blanks to a seat on the district’s discipline committee and allows him to take students on field trips, according to Waukegan Teachers and Parents United, a district advocacy group that contacted The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“LOVE, LIFE AND LIBERATION TO THE HONORABLE MINISTER FARRAKHAN
AND THE NATION OF ISLAM,” said Blanks in response to a post by Waukegan Teachers and Parents United in which the group asserted Blanks refused to withdraw his support for the minister.
“THEY KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAN THEY CLAIM IS A HATER,” insisted Blanks.
Farrakhan has made remarks such as “the Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man,” “they call [Hezbollah] terrorists, I call them freedom fighters,” and “The Mother Wheel is a heavily armed spaceship the size of a city, which will rain destruction upon white America but save those who embrace the Nation of Islam.”
Meanwhile, the Nation of Islam occupies a space on the “Extremist Files” section on the “Fighting Hate” vertical of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which typically focuses on right-wing extremism.
The group’s “theology of innate black superiority over whites and the deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric of its leaders have earned the NOI a prominent position in the ranks of organized hate,” said the SPLC.
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“Mr. Blanks is not a teacher in our school district,” said Waukegan Public Schools to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “He is in our schools on occasion, usually in a volunteer capacity. To our knowledge, we are not aware of any complaints from students, parents or staff about Mr. Blanks and his work, or his alleged views.”
The district stated that it does not consider “religious preferences or affiliation” in its recruitment processes.
“The committee annually reviews the parent/student handbook and particularly the discipline code,” said Waukegan Public Schools, commenting on Blanks’ role as a member of the school district’s discipline committee to TheDCNF.
A search for Chris Blanks on Lake County clerk of the circuit court public access system yields numerous court case records, including two for domestic battery.
TheDCNF reached out to Blanks for comment but received none in time for press.
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