Malcolm X: A Role Model for Contemporary White American Males

Why white Americans in the 21st century should learn from the civil rights leader.

Spike Lee’s feature film biopic, “Malcolm X,” was released in 1992. I was living in Brooklyn, 28-years-old at the time, and was a Jewish fan of the controversial director. Accentuations on controversial and Jewish as “Mo’ Better Blues,” Spike’s 1990 followup to his classic “Do the Right Thing,” was widely accused of exploiting the most sensitive of anti-Semitic tropes via the conniving money-hungry brother characters Josh and Moe Flatbush, who themselves exploited the black musicians in the film for personal gain.

An original “X” cap, sold to market the film

Spike’s “Malcolm X,” which today I consider his most accomplished film, was playing barely two miles from my apartment. I made the trek to the Kings Plaza multiplex, surrounded by waves of black X caps. To my sight, I was the sole Caucasian in the crowd.

To be more specific, it appeared I was the sole non-African American in the crowd. I didn’t care then nor do I now, but the observation, in my judgement, is worth expressing for the purposes of this piece.

Much like the recent “Joker” controversy that went nowhere, chatter on some news outlets was that the film would incite rioting. I had actually been warned by several well-meaning friends that I “needed to be careful” at the theater. I could not find a companion to go along with me, so I went by myself.

There was no riot, nor any inciting. Nor was I singled out for my skin color, as some friends of mine swore would be an issue.

As to the three-plus hour film itself, if I did not have to return to Sheepshead Bay by 6PM I would have stayed and watched it a second time.

The film was a revelation, and Denzel Washington deserved the Oscar he did not win the next year for his indelible performance as Malcolm Little, later Malcolm X.

I was taken by Malcolm’s journey from common criminal — imprisoned for 10 years at 21-years-old on larceny and breaking and entering charges — to student, to incendiary proponent of black civil rights “by any means necessary,” to unexpected champion of racial healing and integration upon a pilgrimage to Mecca.

When in prison Malcolm became an inveterate reader and researcher. The white man was the “devil” and unrepentant, beliefs embedded in his early years over the concept of slavery and the prevalence of white supremacy in his native Nebraska, where he claimed the Ku Klux Klan smashed windows on his parents’ property when his mother was pregnant (with him). His father, who they sought, was not home. Malcolm later blamed white supremacists for killing his father in a separate incident when Malcolm was six, an automobile hit and run otherwise ruled “accidental” by the authorities.

He further blamed white supremacists for lynching his uncle.

Born of personal tragedy was the icon soon to be known as “Malcolm X.” And I wanted to know more.

DISCLOSURE

Before we go further, in disclosure I am, as mentioned, a white male. At one time, Malcolm would have considered me the “devil”. Do I forgive him?

I am also a Jew. Concentration camp victims and survivors are in my lineage. How do I take, then, the following words once spoken by Malcolm?

“We’re anti-exploitation and in this country the Jews have been located in the so-called Negro community as merchants and businessmen for so long that they feel guilty when you mention that the exploiters of Negroes are Jews. This doesn’t mean that we are anti-Jews or anti-Semitic — we’re anti-exploitation.”

Malcolm further believed that Jews had “a grip on the news media.”

Anti-Semitic in context? I consider the question a matter of sensitivity. Aside from the “guilty” comment, there is objective truth to Malcolm’s words. The question is certainly arguable as the Nation of Islam has been for many years in the crosshairs for alleged anti-Semitism, but again, Malcolm’s views were complex and his harsher positions did substantially temper towards the end of his life.

These were hurdles, nonetheless, with which I struggled and yet I stand by the title of this piece for reasons I will shortly discuss.

THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH

Malcom X was poised and fiercely intelligent, a stoic, intellectual powerhouse with the presence of a panther and unbending mind of a prodigy.

He was committed and dogmatic, regardless of mainstream approval.

Malcolm was methodical; rarely was a word uttered without careful and self-critical deliberation. As he believed he would be killed once he denounced his spiritual leader, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole), he set the record with author-interviewer Alex Haley in the minister’s self-titled autobiography, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.”

Now on paper for the world to see, this ambitious work was widely praised (though some later biographers expressed Haley and Malcolm may have exaggerated some aspects, while others questioned the order of the remembrances presented) and is frequently shortlisted as one of the 20th century’s most influential books.

ON VIOLENCE AND INTEGRATION

Malcolm insisted that neither the Nation of Islam nor Black Muslims were inherently violent. He framed his image as religious-based:

“If anyone inflicts or seeks to inflict violence upon us we are within our religious rights to retaliate in self-defense to the maximum degree of our ability. We never initiate any violence upon anyone.”

“To accuse us of being violent is like accusing a man who is being lynched, who is being hung on a tree, simply because he struggles vigrously against his lyncher … the victim is accused of violence, but the lyncher is never accused of violence.”

“You should be happy that Muslims who follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammed, number one, don’t believe in any form of integration, and believe that every mention of the word integration by whites, whether it be from the mouth of Kennedy, on down to the mouth of the lowest raggediest white liberal in the street who is beatnik-like involving himself in these integration efforts, if we believed in it we would integrate, and we would fight anybody who got in our way or made any effort whatsoever to stop us from integrating. If we really believed that the law of the land, the Supreme Court and other so-called “judicial bodies” were for real, when they talked about intergration, we would integrate ... If it is the law of the land, then the demonstrators are within the law. But to show you the hypocrisy of the law, when Negroes demonstrate for integration, instead of arresting the discriminators, the law arrests the demonstrators … As Muslims we believe that separation is the best way and the only sensible way, not integration

“If a dog is biting a black man, the black man should kill the dog. Whether the dog is a police dog or hound dog or other kind of dog. If a dog is sicced on a black man, when that black man is doing nothing but trying to take advantage of what the government says should be his, then the black man should kill that dog and any two-legged dog.”

In the above clip, Malcolm also argues that new thinking and feeling will cause black people to stick together, and when you attack one black man you attack all black men, which would put an end to the brutality of white people against black. This, he says, is the only way. “Someday the Negroes will wake up, and do onto the whites as the whites have done onto us.”

A BREAK FROM THE NATION OF ISLAM, MECCA, AND A CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

Between 1961 and 1962, the Nation of Islam took no action in response to growing LAPD violence against both non-affiliated black men and women, and Nation of Islam members. Among the casualties was Temple Number 27, a mosque, in which a confrontation between member attendees and officers led to multiple injuries and the shooting death of Ronald Stokes, a Korean War veteran.

Malcolm was mortified at the lack of response, which contradicted his public statements about the Nation and self-defense. This would cause his first schism within the organization. It would not be his last.

At the height of the civil rights movement in 1963, Malcolm learned that Elijah Muhammad was having affairs and children with multiple women within the Nation of Islam. When asked to cover for his leader Malcolm refused, disillusioned that the head of the Nation was once again betraying his own teachings.

Malcolm was still very human. He was no saint himself, and not prone to forgiveness when angered. He received widespread criticism shortly after discovering his leader’s secrets about a comment he had made regarding John Kennedy’s assassination, comparing it to “chickens coming home to roost.” The Nation of Islam did not defend him, and instead Elijah Muhammad “silenced” the organization’s second most powerful man for 90 days.

Malcolm would break with Elijah Muhammad in 1964, and form his own Islamic faction, the Muslim Mosque, Inc.

When he made a pilgrimage to Mecca, he was astounded to find men and women, young and old and of all skin colors, praying as one. This pilgrimage would forever alter his ideology. From then forward, he preached the virtues of integration, and mutual healing.

This predictably did not sit well with his former brothers. After warning the media that the Nation of Islam was planning to kill him, on February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom while planning to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

Malcolm X Is a Role Model for Contemporary White American Males

As we now meet the “elephant in the room,” I’ll state my case to the best of my ability:

Malcolm had undertaken a personal journey of such import and extremis that it killed him. His ultimate sacrifice was admitting publicly, after a veritable lifetime (Malcolm passed away at 39 years old) of representing otherwise, that integration did have its place and racial harmony was, indeed, just and correct. By so doing, he knew he had placed himself in mortal danger, and yet he stayed true to himself ... and what I also believe to be the greater good. He was well-read, in itself an example, and his beliefs came early based in large part on his environment. However, when in the presence of leadership with whom he had the presence of mind to question, he broke a grip that held him back from fulfilling his true life’s purpose. Malcolm is an example to white supremacists. He made a break, so can they. Further, if the man many thought represented “hate” can change, and in full view of the world, there is still hope for those struggling. His reasoning was logical yet his assumptions were flawed. Who among us has made similar assumptions of those not of the same culture or skin color? Many. He fought, non-violently (after being released from prison), for what he believed in. He carried himself publicly with poise and well-bearing, and continued to do so throughout his ideological change — though towards the end he was always on guard and would not travel without bodyguards — up until his assassination. He was feared, yet respected. On a surface level, he dressed immaculately. He insisted the rifle he owned would be used to defend his family only, never for recreation or anything “illegal.” Reconsider some of his above quotes with an open mind. Consider his environment, and his bravery for reconsidering his own belief system with an open mind of his own. In the end, he used his experience and his voice to do the right thing. The words are no inadvertent reference to Spike, though the theme of this piece does come full circle when utilized.

We must continue to do the right thing. Or, in our current politically-charged environment, we must resume doing the right thing. White male racists, including those in the most powerful positions in the country who breed it, and domestic terrorists, may want to brush up on the journey of Malcolm X before they go too far into their own radicalization.

Thank you for reading.

“Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes” — Unknown, said to be of Cherokee origin.

Note from the editor: Political views expressed by writers in Thoughts do not necessarily correspond with the views of the editor or any other writer in Thoughts.