Governor, attorney general join calls for Philly's NAACP leader to resign after anti-Semitic Facebook post

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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
More calls for Philly's NAACP leader to resign after anti-Semitic Facebook post
Calls for the resignation of Philadelphia NAACP Chapter President Rodney Muhammad are growing since website Billy Penn found an anti-Semitic post on his Facebook page.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Calls for the resignation of Philadelphia NAACP Chapter President Rodney Muhammad are growing since website Billy Penn found an anti-Semitic post on his Facebook page.

On Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf and Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined calls for Muhammad's resignation.

The Jewish Federation held a virtual meeting on Tuesday, joining Black and Jewish leaders. The Jewish Federation called for Muhammad to step down immediately.

Not everyone on the call felt Muhammad should resign but several did, including Senator Anthony Williams.

"Two of the greatest atrocities of the human race were slavery and the holocaust and we have not only survived that but we survived it with grace and dignity and support for others," Williams said.

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State Representative Joanna McClinton also agreed.

"We are not going to tolerate (it) even if it seems it's from within our own community," McClinton said.

Rev. Kenneth Huston, President of the PA Conference of the NAACP, denounced the post but said no decision has been made yet.

"We are in deep conversation. We are anxiously awaiting to see what our national direction will be," Huston said.

The offensive post in question included images of actor and rapper Ice Cube, Philadelphia Eagles star DeSean Jackson and TV host Nick Cannon - all three who have recently made anti-Semitic posts - and a man crushing people with his hand with the words: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize."

The image is said to depict a Jewish man oppressing African Americans.

Muhammad released a statement but did not apologize.

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