The meme contained an image often used by white supremacists
Philadelphia NAACP president Rodney Muhammad gave a lame excuse for posting an extremely offensive anti-Semitic meme on his public Facebook page.
The now deleted post included a cartoon often used by white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups to mock Jews, and added a quote misattributed to French philosophe Voltaire.
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize," read the quote.
Above the quote were images of rapper Ice Cube, Philadelphia Eagles football player DeSean Jackson, and television show host Nick Cannon, all of whom had their own anti-Semitic controversies.
The seeming implication of the meme was that the criticism against celebrities spreading anti-Semitic speech was evidence that the Jewish community had too much control over society.
Jackson apologized for the Instagram post where he promoted Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and used a quote misattributed to Adolf Hitler. Cannon also apologized for the anti-Semitic conspiracy theories he spouted on his podcast show. Rapper Ice Cube alone among the three refused to apologize for his controversy.
Muhammad posted the meme to his Facebook page on Thursday, but deleted it after a reporter contacted him about it.
He then offered a poor excuse for the extremely offensive image.
"To be real honest with you, I didn't even pay attention to the picture," he said, according to WHYY-TV.
The quote used in the meme misattributed to Voltaire is actually one often attributed to white supremacist Kevin Strom from a 1993 essay. Strom was later convicted of possessing child pornography and served four months in prison.
The response
On Friday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia called for Muhammad to step down over the offensive meme.
"This vile behavior from a civic leader is incredibly dangerous for Jewish communities across the world," said Interim Director Laura Frank.
The former president of the NAACP Cornel William Brooks tweeted a statement addressing controversy.
"To be clear, I oppose all forms of #Antisemitism —as caricature, as trope, as hate crime, as policy, and as the oldest form of hate," Brooks said.
Muhammad also condemned the order from the president to send federal agents to help quell the rioting and looting in several cities across the nation.
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