MALCOLM X

It should be pointed out at the outset that I represent the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, whose followers are known as the Muslims here in America and actually are the fastest growing group—fastest growing religious group—among Black people anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. And it is our intention to try and spell out what the philosophy and aims and motivations of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad happen to be and his solution to this very serious problem that America finds herself confronted with. And I might point out, too, that if you don’t think that the problem is serious, then you need only to listen to the attorney general, Robert F. Kennedy. In almost every speech he’s been involved in, especially during the past few months and even today, he has pointed out that the race problem is America’s most serious domestic problem. And since the problem is so serious, it’s time to take some serious steps to get to the factors that create this problem. And again I want to thank the Afri...

On behalf of my beloved leader and teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and the many young Muslims who follow him, we wish to thank you for this opportunity to explain our position today in what we feel to be the only solution to the serious race problems confronting America and the entire troubled Western World. In this crucial hour in which we live today, it is essential that our minds constantly be kept open to reality. We have both races here in this Yale Law School Auditorium tonight. Let us not be emotional. Let us be governed and guided only by facts. I represent Mr. Elijah Muhammad, the spiritual head of the fastest-growing group of Black Muslims in the Western Hemisphere. We who follow him know that he has been divinely taught and sent to us by God Himself. We believe that the miserable plight of the 20 million black people in America is the fulfillment of divine prophecy. We believe that the serious race problem that our presence here poses for America is also the f...

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...