MONDAY
E-mail a friendKeith Ellison
airdate October 2, 2006
After his victory in the recent primary, Minnesota state legislator Keith Ellison could become the first Muslim to serve in Congress. Favored to win in his heavily Democratic district, he would also be the first African American representative from the state. Ellison was raised in a Catholic household in Detroit and converted to Islam as a Wayne State University undergrad. He attended law school in Minnesota and maintains his law practice. He has also been a public affairs radio program host.
Keith Ellison
Tavis: Keith Ellison is a member of the Minnesota State Legislature who is now running for a seat in the U.S. Congress. If he wins on November seventh, he will become the first Muslim ever to serve in Congress. He would also become the first African American to represent the state of Minnesota. He joins us tonight from Minneapolis. Keith Ellison, nice to have you on the program, sir.
Keith Ellison: Very welcome to be here.
Tavis: So, tell me honestly how sick and tired you are, (laugh) just between the two of us, of answering all these Black and all these Muslim questions.
Ellison: Well just between the two of us, Tavis, (laugh) if it were not for these first issues, I wouldn't have the opportunity to speak to an audience about the importance of peace being the guiding principle of our country, about the importance of fighting for universal healthcare coverage, and about this really terrible middle class squeeze that so many Americans are facing right now.
We haven't seen an increase in the minimum wage since 1997. So yeah, this stuff about the first definitely is getting to be an old subject for me personally, but if it's the avenue to talk about the things I'm truly passionate about, we have to take the good and the bad.
Tavis: All right, so I'm gonna try to be real smooth about this, and I'm sure that I will ultimately be about as slick as sandpaper. (Laugh) You will see right through this, but instead of asking you about the Muslim factor, instead of asking you about the Black factor, maybe I'll ask you what you have been saying about the Muslim issue, and what you've been saying about the Black issue.
Ellison: Well, I'm proud to be who I am, certainly. My parents raised me to be a proud person, and I am that. But what I've been saying is that all of us have a personal profile. All of us have a race, a religion, a culture. I have one, and I'm proud of it. But really, it's really about what we all have in common. This is the time in our country I believe we have to focus on what we share.
We have to break down the walls and build bridges between people. So that's what I'm talking about, and have been talking about consistently. Now, it is a good thing to have people who have felt like they've been out of the political, body politic, that they now feel welcome because of my candidacy. That's a positive. But that's really about the end of it for me. But if people in the Muslim or African American community feel like hey, we can be in politics, too, I'd say that's good. But we can't stop there. We have to go past there.
Tavis: I think I can figure out - I'm not a rocket scientist, but I think I can figure out how you got to be Black. I got that part figured out. (Laugh) But tell me how it is, seriously, that you chose or became a part of the Muslim faith. I'm curious about this.
Ellison: Well, I come from a Catholic family, and my Catholic roots are important to me. They help inform me a lot, and help form the basis of my personality and my spiritual understanding. But when I was on a college campus, I was influenced by the writings of Malcolm X and others. And so that whetted my appetite, so then I looked into Islam a little bit deeper, and I found that it worked for me. So I became a Muslim when I was on campus at Wayne State University at the age of 19, and it's been a good journey ever since.
Tavis: I assume, given that you're in the legislature and you've been there for a number of terms that it has not impacted, that is to say your faith has not impacted what the voters in your region think of you.
Ellison: Well, that's right. The fact is is that the voters want somebody who's gonna be attendant to their issues, who's gonna stand up for the issues they believe in, and who's gonna be effective. That's what they're looking for. They also want somebody who's gonna, again, build those bridges. And I've been working actively to do that. And so it's never been an issue before. So it did come as somewhat of a surprise that it's such an issue now.
Tavis: Well, I'm not surprised by it, given by what's happening in the world. So to that point, tell me how it is that you think that Americans more broadly, as a member of the House, will view your faith? The people in your district have known you for years and have elected you time and again to the legislature. But how do you think that Americans more broadly, since this is now playing as a national story, are going to view your faith at a moment like this?
Ellison: Well, I think Americans, by and large, are very tolerant people. It was back in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic, was introduced to the American public and his faith and that whole question. And so it's really an issue we resolved quite a while ago. In addition to that, one of the founding principles of this country is the separation of church and state, and the freedom to worship as one pleases.
So, I believe that the American public will rise to the occasion. Now that doesn't mean there won't be some people who will be put in fear, or there won't be some bigotry there. But by and large, the American people are very tolerant.
Tavis: One of the persons whose Herculean efforts taught America how to be tolerant, taught America that each of us is, in fact, equal, was a guy named Thurgood Marshall, the late, great Supreme Court justice. And given that today is the first day of the new term for the Supreme Court, let me ask you to share with me, which I think is a wonderful story, your Thurgood Marshall story.
Ellison: Well, my mother, (unintelligible) Ellison Martinez is a woman who is a very proud woman. Her father was Frank Martinez, and he was organization Black voters in the era before the Brown vs. Board Of Education decision in (unintelligible) Louisiana. And she was very proud of telling me how Thurgood Marshall and Walter White came to their home in (unintelligible), and they fed them, and actually opened their doors to them.
And it's something that my mother and her family are very proud of until this very day. I grew up hearing that story, and it really was an inspiration to me to pursue a career in the law, to pursue social justice. And she's all about that, so I think it just sort of transmitted to me. But it's a great family story, and we love to talk about it.
Tavis: Tell me what issues you are most passionate about. I'm asking that because I'm trying to get a sense of what kinds of committees, given the opportunity, you'd like to serve on if elected to the House. What kind of work are you passionate about?
Ellison: Well, I have a broad scope, but let me just say that I think the most important issue to the American public today is the war in Iraq. Tavis, I've been of the mind that it's been a failed policy. I've been protesting against it for three years. And I think that we have to get ourselves out of this conflict. And so I hope to work with other people in Congress to bring the troops home.
People nowadays, people agree it's a failed policy, but they just don't know what to do about it. But if you look at the national security estimates we've seen, the Iraq policy is not diminishing terrorism, it's increasing it and making us less secure. So this is an issue that's very important for me. An extension of that as well, Tavis, is the idea that this war on terror, as important as it is to fight terrorism, and I'm fully in favor of that, but it has had an impact on our civil and human rights here in America that I find disturbing.
The violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a big concern of mine. I think the President must abide by the law. Also condoning torture. Very concerned about that. Very concerned about what the Downing Street memo might mean in terms of whether there was some pre-plan to go into Iraq even before 9/11. So these are the issues that I feel are very important, but not only that.
We've gotta fix this Medicare Part D problem. It's written for the benefit of the pharmaceutical companies, not seniors, and we've gotta put our seniors up front. They deserve a sensible, affordable prescription drug benefit. And then again, Tavis, our whole healthcare system is in crisis. Forty-seven million Americans without healthcare. Forty-seven million people who go to bed every night with nothing but the emergency room to think about.
They're putting off procedures, putting off surgeries, and getting sicker all the time because they just can't come out of their pocket for those medical procedures. So that's a burning issue for me. And then also the issue of economic justice. We've seen a massive transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the most wealthy people in our country.
This is wrong, and it has moral dimensions. We can at least increase the minimum wage. We haven't increased it since 1997. That's a real serious problem. People deserve - every American should be able to work a full time job and expect to have a pension and a healthcare plan. That's what I believe we need to be about. But then...
Tavis: I'm sorry, I hear your list and I'm glad. That's always a dangerous question to ask politicians. (Laugh) What their list of issues is. I asked for that, and you gave it to me, but thank you. Let me close. I got about 30 seconds here, though, Keith. I wanted to get this in right quick. As I look at that backdrop behind you, it represents a city, a region, Minneapolis-St. Paul, that could send the first African American from the state of Minnesota, a region that could send the first Muslim to the U.S. Congress.
But it also, very quickly, represents where the Republicans have announced they will be for their nominating convention in 2008. In 20 seconds, what do you make of that, Mr. Ellison?
Ellison: Well, we don't mind taking their money. (Laugh) We hope they spend a lot on restaurants and things like that while they're here. But we intend to be an alternative voice here in Minnesota, and let the folks know that there's a lot of really strong Democrats here. A lot of people who believe in social justice; a lot of people who believe that the average working man and woman needs to be the focus of our public policy. And I don't think that's what they're about at all.
Tavis: Keith Ellison, all the best to you in your campaign. Nice to have you on.
Ellison: Thank you, Tavis, love your show.
Tavis: Thank you, sir, I appreciate it. Up next, a look at the legacy of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. Stay with us.
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