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Lot 130
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Malcolm X: White vs. Black, Jesus and Moses; his copy of "Playboy" interview
Malcolm X: White vs. Black, Jesus and Moses; his copy of "Playboy" interview
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Description:

Malcolm X 1925 - 1965 Malcolm X: White vs. Black, Jesus and Moses; his copy of "Playboy" interview page proof
Single page typed document, appears to be a letter sent to Malcolm for reflection and review, typed on tissue stock, 8.5" x 11" with minor outer edge creasing. Signed by Malcolm X with a large penned bracket as "Malcolm X".


A fascinating and revealing letter which was drafted by a another party for Malcolm X's review and reflection. Malcolm X's earlier years as a prominent leader for The Nation of Islam, had him proselytizing black supremacy, advocating the separation of black and white Americans and rejecting the civil rights movement for its emphasis on integration.

Malcolm X promoted the Nation's teachings including the specific beliefs that:

· that black people are the original people of the world

· that white people are "devils"

· That blacks are superior to whites, and

· that the demise of the white race is imminent.

Many whites and some blacks were alarmed by Malcolm X and the statements he made during this period. He and the Nation of Islam were described as hatemongers, black supremacists, racists, violence-seekers, segregationists, and a threat to improved race relations. He was accused of being anti-Semitic. One of the goals of the civil rights movement was to end disenfranchisement of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in voting and other aspects of the political process. Civil rights organizations denounced him and the "Nation" as irresponsible extremists whose views did not represent African Americans. He called the 1963 March on Washington "the farce on Washington", and said he did not know why so many black people were excited about a demonstration "run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn't like us when he was alive"

Malcolm X promoted hate, and used this powerful emotion to create an entire movement of blacks against the white man

However this letter, written in a somewhat metaphoric and poetic style, was composed by an unknown follower of Malcolm X , and essentially begged him to reflect and reconsider his beliefs and methods. Perhaps this letter created the necessary 'seed of doubt' which was the catalyst for Malcolm X's turning point. In his later years, Malcolm X had an incredible epiphany which rocked his beliefs to the core, and set him on an alternate path during his pilgrimage to Mecca.

The profound typed letter, signed and bracketed by Malcolm X thus clearly demonstrating he had read and reviewed the letter, may very well have been the planted seed that set him on a path questioning everything he stood for. The letter is shown in full below:

"Ask for dark flour, whole wheat flour. But if you ask for white bread, you want something that has no nutritional value. All the good that was in it has been bleached out of it, and it will constipate you. If you want pure sugar, you want dark sugar.

Mr. Malcolm, consider this. Stop and think a moment seriously. What kind of a religion can you have whose entire basis is hatred. You talk about separating the blacks from whites to form an all-black nation. What kind of success could a nation have, any nation, whose very founding principle was hatred?

Sir, Moses taught separation. Moses told the slavemaster

Pharoah 'Let my people go to a land flowing with milk and honey.' No one said that Moses taught hate.

Noah taught separation. Lot taught separation. Jesus

said that when he comes it will be harvest time, and in the

harvest the xx wheat will be separated from the chaff, the

goats separated from the sheep, the righteous separated from the wicked, the oppressed separated xxxxxx from the

oppressor. No one said that Jesus or Noah or lot taught hate.

In fact, Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah and Lot,

so xx shall it be in the last day. Judgement Day is harvest time, and the good then will be separated from the bad. Never integrate at harvest time. You separate what you want from what you don't want. That's religion, that's not hate.

Mr. Malcolm, I am sure you know that there is considerable

discussion about a Congressional probe of your organization...

Sir, it's a rumor is all I know."

Perhaps this letter was the ironic twist which gave Malcolm X pause that this very 'machine' that Malcolm helped to build, was NOT the way to enlightenment or unity. He quickly became disenfranchised with The Nation of Islam and it then was during his pilgrimage to Mecca that Malcolm X had an epiphany which rocked his beliefs to the core, and set him on an alternate path. Malcolm witnessed what he claims he never saw in the United States: men of all color and nationalities treating each other equally. "Throngs of people, obviously Muslims from everywhere, bound for the pilgrimage," he'd begun to notice at the airport terminal before boarding the plane for Cairo in Frankfurt, "were hugging and embracing. They were of all complexions, the whole atmosphere was of warmth and friendliness. The feeling hit me that there really wasn't any color problem here. The effect was as though I had just stepped out of a prison." To enter the state of ihram required of all pilgrims heading for Mecca, Malcolm abandoned his trademark black suit and dark tie for the two-piece white garment pilgrims must drape over their upper and lower bodies. "Every one of the thousands at the airport, about to leave for Jedda, was dressed this way," Malcolm wrote. "You could be a king or a peasant and no one would know." That, of course, is the point of ihram. As Islam interprets it, it reflects the equality of man before God.

He may have entered Mecca in 1964 as "Malcolm X", but he left Mecca as "El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz", when he became an orthodox Muslim, adopted the Muslim name and distanced himself from the teachings of the black Muslims. This was the moment he sealed his fate as his previous followers, and "The Nation of Islam" assassinated him in 1965, when his new path and preaching's were in direct conflict with their beliefs. Most of the energy of his adult life was invested in the pursuit of black supremacy, and in one short moment, he made a complete 180 degree turn and the last year of his life was spent in embracing unification, and co-existence.

In 1965 Life Magazine published a legacy article on the life and death of Malcolm X, within which they quoted him shortly before his assassination (and in perhaps his last epiphany) as having said "I did many things as a Muslim that I am sorry for now. I was a zombie back then - like all Muslims - I was hypnotized, pointed in a certain direction and told to march. Well I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of himself if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me 12 years"

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