MALCOLM X

Moderator: Eric P. Goldman, Guests: Mr. Monroe Berger, Mr. Kenneth B. Clark, Mr. Richard Haley, Mrs. Constance B. Motley, Mr. Malcolm X Mr. Goldman : In the years since World War II, unquestionably the most dramatic and most important development in internal American affairs has been the upward lunge of the Negro. In no uncertain terms these 20 million Americans have been making themselves heard. As the agitation and as the advances have gone on, observers have more and more joined in one type of comment. They’ve been saying there is a new Negro in America, a new mood, a new emphasis in the programs and demands of the Negro. Today we’re going to inquire into statements of this kind, and, I hope, in the course of the inquiry, we will answer candidly such questions as, What does the Negro really want today? Is he, to any significant degree, dissatisfied with the leadership of organizations like the NAACP? And is he really developing a new identity, both in terms of his inner reactions...

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen. We thank you for inviting us here to the Harvard Law School Forum this evening to present our views on this timely topic: The American Negro, Problems and Solutions. But to understand our views, the views of the Black Muslims, you must first realize that we are a religious group, and you must also know something about our religion, the religion of Islam. The Creator of the Universe, whom many of you call God or Jehovah, is known to the Muslims by the name Allah. Since the Muslims believe there is but one God, and that all the prophets came from this one God, we believe also that all prophets taught the same religion, and that they themselves called that religion Islam, an Arabic word that means the complete submission and obedience to the will of Allah. One who practices this Divine Obedience is called a Muslim (commonly known, spelled, and referred to here in the West as Moslem). There are over 725 million Muslims on this earth, predominantl...

Eleanor Fischer : Malcolm X, the minister of the Black Muslim community in New York City and national representative of Elijah Muhammad, the spiritual leader of the Black Muslim movement. Mr. Malcolm, may I ask you to tell us something about the Black Muslim movement in America? What is it? What does it stand for? Malcolm X : Well, it’s a—number one, it primarily is a religious movement here in America that’s designed to reform the black man or the so-called Negroes, reform us—reform us morally and enable us to stand on our own two feet and do something for ourselves. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, our religious leader, teaches us the importance of doing something for ourselves now, rather than trying to continue to force ourselves into the white community or upon the white man. He teaches us that if we would do something for ourselves, clean up ourselves, morally, intellectually and otherwise, and then try and do something for ourselves economically, we would be recognized and ac...