No reflection on the life of Mike Wallace would be complete without discussing his interview with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, the National Representative of the most Honorable Elijah Muhammad back in 1996.
This interview happend not long after the historic Million Man March and the Minister’s World Friendship Tour. It was a wonderful interview and Mr. Wallace, who is known for being tough and fair, was received by the Minister with that same toughness and fairness as he answered with passion and clarity. We would say, the Minister was even more tough and more fair that Mr. Wallace.
No doubt, this interview is a classic one. During the discussion of corruption:
Mike Wallace: “You’d go to Nigeria? If it’s not the most corrupt Nation in Africa, it could be the most corrupt Nation in the world.”
Louis Farrakhan: “Oh, now Mr. Wallace.
Mike Wallace adjusted himself in his seat: “It is the most corrupt nation that I have ever covered. I have been there 25 years ago and I have been there as recently as last year.”
I guess he thought he had the Minister. Ha! The Minister first paints a clear picture for Mike about the youthfulness of Nigeria’s government and then puts a mirror to Wallace’s face as he reminds Mike that America is guilty of corruption. I mean really. How are you going to tell the child of former slaves, captured Africans, about corruption somewhere else.
The Minister says:
You are not in a moral position to tell anyone how corrupt they are. You should be quiet!… . But, America should keep her mouth shut wherever there is a corrupt regime, as much hell as America has raised on the Earth.
Has Nigeria dropped an atomic bomb and killed people in, in Hiroshima, in Nagasaki? Have they killed off millions of Native Americans? How dare you put yourself in that position as a moral judge! I think you should keep quiet.
After Mike listened to the Minister, he then asked, “Can you think of a more corrupt country?”
“I’m living in one,” said the Minister.
Mr. Wallace also did a feature of the Nation of Islam under the leadership of the most Honorable Elijah Muhammad entitled: The Hate that Hate Produced. Wallace revisited that report during the feature on Min. Farrakhan.
About the author / Toure Muhammad
Author Toure Muhammad is the head bean, publisher and chief strategist of Bean Soup Times. The Morehouse graduate has written front page cover stories for The Final Call and N’digo. He has been featured in the Chicago Reader, Upscale magazine, rolling out newspaper, and N’Digo magapaper. He’s been featured on Tavis Smiley’s radio show on NPR, on Chicago’s WBEZ (Chicago public radio), and many other radio shows.