Biographies & Memoirs

SECTION 4

July 15, 1958–July 21, 1959

REPORTS:

1. July 15, 1958. New York

2. November 19, 1958. New York

3. May 19, 1959. New York

4. July 13, 1959. SAC, New York to Director. Airtel

5. July 16 and 21, 1959. Memo. Special Agent in Charge (SAC), New York to Director

This section begins with a July 2, 1958, FBI approval of a recommendation from the New York office that Malcolm be designated as “a key figure.” This designation meant that the FBI would keep “up-to-date Security Index cards on him separately,” an indication that the Bureau considered the Nation of Islam to be at least a potential threat to the nation’s internal security.

The new designation reflected Malcolm’s increasing visibility as a Muslim spokesperson and the FBI’s awareness of Malcolm’s growing involvement in international politics. A July 13 memorandum informed FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that Malcolm met with Premier Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt to set up talks between Nasser and Elijah Muhammad. Two other memos, dated July 16 and 21, contain the “substantially verbatim account” of parts one and three of Mike Wallace’s “The Hate That Hate Produced,” which aired during the week of July 13–17, 1959. The text was sent to the Detroit Bureau “in view of the fact that NOI parochial schools in Chicago and Detroit were mentioned.” Part one contains Louis Lomax’s interview with Malcolm and part three contains an interview with NAACP leader Roy Wilkins, who claimed not to know who Elijah Muhammad was, even though Wallace showed pictures of Wilkins conversing with Malcolm X.

For the first time, the FBI includes speculations that Malcolm might want to succeed Elijah. Reporting on speeches in Chicago and Los Angeles, the FBI’s informant suggests that older members were “somewhat resentful” of Malcolm’s “extremely violent teachings and statements.” Another informant explains that Malcolm desires a separate nation for the NOI within the United States, possibly California, where the NOI might buy land.

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OFFICE MEMORANDUM

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

TO

:

DIRECTOR, FBI (100-399321)
DATE: 7/2/58

FROM

:

SAC, NEW YORK (105-8999)

SUBJECT

:

MALCOLM LITTLE
SM-NOI

ReBulet 5/20/58, which states that in view of LITTLE’s increasing activities in the affairs of the NOI on a national level, the Bureau desires that the NYO consider him for designation as a key figure.

The NYO after due consideration believes that LITTLE should be designated a key figure in view of his extensive activity as Minister of Temple No. 7, 102 West 116th Street, New York City.

It is noted that Temple No. 7 has approximately three to four hundred members and that in his capacity as minister, LITTLE is the leader of Temple No. 7.

In addition, LITTLE travels to various temples throughout the United States and at meetings of these temples has made numerous speeches which are violent in nature wherein he attacks the United States and the white race.

UACB, the NYO is designating LITTLE a key figure and is placing this case in a pending inactive status.

The NYO will continue to follow LITTLE‘s activities and will submit a report within six months from the date of reBulet.

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SAC, New York (105-8999)

July 15, 1958

Director, FBI (100-399321)

 

MALCOLM LITTLE

 

INTERNAL SECURITY - NOI

 

Reurlet 7/2/58.

The Bureau agrees with your designation of Little as a key figure. You will be furnished up-to-date Security Index cards on him separately.

Inasmuch as Little has been designated a key figure, you should obtain and forward to the Bureau a current photograph of him as well as suitable handwriting specimens.

You should carefully review that part of Section 87D of the Manual of Instructions relating to key figures.

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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Reporting Office: New York

Office of Origin: New York

Date: 11/19/58

Investigative Period: 10/1–3,9–24,28–31;11/3–5/58

Report made by: [BUREAU DELETION]

Title: MALCOLM K. LITTLE, was

Character of case: Internal Security - NOI

SYNOPSIS:

MALCOLM LITTLE is Minister of Temple No. 7 of the Nation of Islam (NOI) in New York City, and is considered one of the national leaders of the NOI. He travels extensively to various parts of the United States engaging in NOI work. [BUREAU DELETION] subject may aspire to replace ELIJAH MUHAMMAD as NOI leader. NOI activities, including meetings attended and pertinent portions of speeches made by subject, set forth. Subject resides at 25–46 99th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York.

At Chicago, Illinois

Subject was observed by Special Agents of the FBI on May 20, 1958, in the company of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD in Chicago, Illinois.

[BUREAU DELETION] that subject was present in Chicago at the funeral of MARIE MUHAMMAD, mother of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, which was held May 21, 1958.

[BUREAU DELETION] advised that on [BUREAU DELETION] subject was present at the University of Islam in Chicago.

[BUREAU DELETION] that subject attended a meeting of the NOI on [BUREAU DELETION] at MUHAMMAD’s Temple No. 2, 5335 South Greenwood Avenue.

At this meeting MALCOLM stated that the so-called Negro was looking and searching for a modern-day MOSES to lead them, and intimated that ELIJAH MUHAMMAD is this modern-day MOSES. Subject stated that under the flag of Islam the so-called Negroes would receive freedom, justice and equality. He stated that the Christian Bible had been written by the “Christian slavemaster” to keep the so-called Negroes in slavery. He stated that if the so-called Negro does not stop following the “white devil,” the so-called Negro will be destroyed.

At Los Angeles, California

[BUREAU DELETION] that MALCOLM X was speaker at a NOI meeting [BUREAU DELETION] at Normandie Hall. . . .

MALCOLM stated that ELIJAH MUHAMMAD was a lenient man, and that if it were left to his followers like himself, MALCOLM, they would take the heads off of every white man.

[BUREAU DELETION] that there appeared to be a feeling among a number of the older members of the NOI that MALCOLM X was going to do more harm than good, as they were somewhat resentful and would not accept his extremely violent teachings and statements, and that they felt that MALCOLM X is too inflammatory and too drastic.

MALCOLM pointed to the Muslim flag and then at the United States flag, and stated, “Which one of these do you think will survive the War of Armageddon? I don’t say who will survive or when. To win means to defeat your opponent. To survive is to be still left after completely destroying or obliterating your opponent. There will be no survivors among the losers.” [BUREAU DELETION] MALCOLM pointed to the Muslim flag after staling, “Come over to this and live.” He then pointed to the American flag, and stated, “because this and Christianity will be destroyed.”

[BUREAU DELETION] that subject was speaker at a NOI meeting on [BUREAU DELETION] at Normandie Hall. Among his remarks, subject stated as follows; “Who is our enemy?” At this point MALCOLM pointed at the United States flag and said, “This represents our enemy. As you know this is all we ever got from it. . .” He then pointed to a picture of a Negro hanging from a tree.

[BUREAU DELETION] that based on the speeches of MALCOLM, it seems apparent that MALCOLM believes that the United States government should give the Negro people a state. [BUREAU DELETION] that MALCOLM apparently believes that this would happen in the foreseeable future in about ten to fifteen years. For example, MALCOLM has explained that ELIJAH MUHAMMAD has told him he does not want his state to be where it is too cold nor too hot, nor where there is no water outlet to an ocean or gulf. MALCOLM pointed out that California fits this description, and that the farm to be purchased by the NOI may be bought in California. MALCOLM explained that once you have a foothold you can expand and absorb until the entire state is yours, and that this is what ELIJAH MUHAMMAD would do.

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Report of: SA [BUREAU DELETION] b7C

Office: NEW YORK

Date: 19 MAY 1959

File Number: New York 105-8999       Bureau file 100-399321

Title: MALCOLM K. LITTLE

Character: INTERNAL SECURITY-NOI

Synopsis:

MALCOLM LITTLE is Minister of Temple No. 7 of the NOI in New York City, and is considered one of the national leaders of the NOI. Information regarding his importance and position in the NOI set forth. LITTLE has traveled considerably throughout the United States on NOI business. Information regarding LITTLE’s visits to various NOI temples set forth. LITTLE has made numerous speeches setting forth the teachings and doctrines of the NOI, pertinent portions of which are set out. LITTLE resides at 25–46 99th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York.

NOI ACTIVITY AND STATEMENTS MADE
BY SUBJECT

In Buffalo, New York

On February 12, 1959, [BUREAU DELETION] stated that a meeting of the MTI in Buffalo, New York, was held February 11, 1959, at the above address. [BUREAU DELETION] stated MALCOLM X was the speaker and he spoke as follows:

The Messenger wants everyone to do something for himself and to stop waiting for the white man to do everything for the Negro. He urged those in attendance to develop businesses so that the Negro could become self-dependent. He urged the followers of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD not to break any of the white man’s laws, pointing out that these laws must be obeyed. He stated that the Messenger did not want his followers to break any laws of the white race. The black man and the black woman should not mix with the white race because the white race is the enemy.

The above was verified in substance on February 19, 1959 by [BUREAU DELETION].

At Cleveland, Ohio

On February 18, 1959, [BUREAU DELETION] furnished information concerning a meeting of the MTI No. 18, held February 15, 1959, at 11005 Ashbury Avenue. [BUREAU DELETION] stated MALCOLM X from New York spoke as follows:

The so-called Negroes are so lazy that they are willing to suffer anything rather than go to work. When we find a brother who is lazy we put him out of the brotherhood. Laziness in Islam is a sin. Any man that does not work in Islam is no good.

At Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

On November 3, 1958, [BUREAU DELETION] furnished information concerning a meeting of the NOI in Philadelphia held October 29, 1958. [BUREAU DELETION] stated that MALCOLM LITTLE was the speaker and spoke as follows.

Editor’s note. “The so-called Negro is so hard-hearted, so in love with his enemy [that] he does not even know who is his enemy,” the file quotes Malcolm as saying before announcing the subject of his sermon, which is “why”—why it is that black Americans so love their enemy when “every other black race on earth [is] trying to separate [itself] from the white race.” He then points out that most blacks define civil rights as the right to intermarry, particularly the right of black men to marry white women—a line of reasoning that prompts Malcolm to ask why blacks in America are so much against their own kind. Malcolm continues, according to the file, by saying that the time for white people has expired and that America is doomed, that all white people and also all the so-called Negroes who love them are doomed. “Join into your own kind,” he tells his audience, “and reclaim that which belongs to you—the whole universe.”

The above information was verified in substance on November 3, 1958, by [BUREAU DELETION]

At New York, New York

On February 9, 1959, [BUREAU DELETION] furnished information concerning a meeting of the NOI in New York on February 8, 1959. [BUREAU DELETION] stated that MALCOLM X spoke as follows:

Self preservation is the first law of nature, preservation of family and preservation of people as a race.

The wars of 1914 and the Second World War have weakened the white race. God bless Japan for bombing Pearl Harbor. We should thank them. The only way Japan was conquered was through the atom bomb. The third and last war is the fight between the darker nations and the white race.

On March 26, 1959, [BUREAU DELETION] furnished information concerning a meeting of the NOI in New York on March 22, 1959. [BUREAU DELETION] stated Minister MALCOLM asked if there were any representatives from the FBI or any detectives or cops present. [BUREAU DELETION] stated a member of the police force identified himself. MALCOLM welcomed him and stated that he wished more would come and visit the temple. MALCOLM also stated that the officer should report that they are law abiding people and they do not teach their people to love “white folks.” MALCOLM further stated “man you should arrest them.” We were kidnapped. We were not brought here on the Queen Mary or the Mayflower.

The above information was verified in substance on March 23, 1959, by [BUREAU DELETION]

On March 31, 1959, [BUREAU DELETION] furnished information concerning a NOI meeting held in New York March 29, 1959.

[BUREAU DELETION] stated Minister MALCOLM spoke and stated the sooner the so-called American Negro realized that what is wrong with us is not the color of our skin or the texture of our hair, but rather the condition of our minds and take steps to rectify this condition, the sooner we can have a race of which to be proud. MALCOLM stated that the Negroes should sit and wait without violence because the white man will destroy himself.

This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of any kind. It is the property of the FBI, and is a loan to your agency; it and/or its contents are not to be distributed outside your agency.

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FBI

Date: 7/13/59

Transmit the following in     PLAIN TEXT    

Via   AIRTEL    ______________

TO:

DIRECTOR, FBI (25-330971)

FROM:

SAC, NEW YORK (105-7809)

SUBJECT:

NATION OF ISLAM
IS-NOI
(OO: CG)

On 7/13/59, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that he learned from a member of NOI, NYC, that MALCOLM X LITTLE was in Africa and had an audience with NASSER of Egypt. This audience was to set up meeting between NASSER and ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. [BUREAU DELETION] didn’t know source of member’s info.

[BUREAU DELETION] also learned from above member that NOI, NYC, planning “major boycotts” of stores in Harlem, NYC, to get better jobs for Negroes.

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OFFICE MEMORANDUM

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

TO

:

DIRECTOR, FBI (25-330971)
DATE: 7/16/59

FROM

:

SAC, NEW YORK (105-7809) (412)

SUBJECT

:

NATION OF ISLAM
IS-NOI
(OO: CHICAGO)
ReNYairtel, 7/14/59

As the Bureau has been advised, MIKE WALLACE on his News Beat show on WNTA-TV, Channel 13, New York, 6:30 P.M.-7:00 P.M., during the week of 7/13–17/59, is showing a five-part report which he calls “The Hate That Hate Produced.”

The following is a substantially verbatim account of the first part of this report which was shown on 7/13/59.

Copies of this letter are designated for Detroit in view of the fact that NOI parochial schools in Chicago and Detroit were mentioned.

WALLACE:

Tonight we begin a five-part series which we call “The Hate that Hate Produced,” a story of the rise of Black Racism, of a call for black supremacy among a growing segment of American Negroes. While city officials, state agencies, white liberals and sober-minded Negroes stand idly by, a group of Negro dissenters are taking to street corner stepladders, church pulpits, sports arenas and ballroom platforms across the nation to preach the gospel of hate that would set off a federal investigation if it were to be preached by southern whites. What are they saying? Listen—

 

“I charge the white man with being the greatest liar on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest drunkard on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest ... on earth. Yet the Bible forbids it. I charge the white man with being the greatest gambler on earth. I charge the white man, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, with being the greatest murderer on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest ... on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest adulterer on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest deceiver on earth. I charge the white man with being the greatest troublemaker on earth. So therefore ladies and gentlemen of the jury I ask you to bring back a verdict of guilty as charged.”

WALLACE:

The indictment you’ve just heard is being told over and over again in most of the major cities across the country. This charge comes at the climax of a morality play called The Trial. The plot, indeed the message of the play, is that the white man has been put on trial for his sins against the black man. He has been found guilty. The sentence is death. The play is sponsored, produced by a Negro religious group who call themselves the Muslims. They use a good deal of the paraphernalia of the traditional religion of Islam. But they are fervently disavowed by orthodox Moslems. Negro American Muslims are the most powerful of the black supremacist group. They claim a membership of a quarter of a million Negroes and our search indicates that for every so-called card carrying black supremacist there are perhaps ten fellow travelers. Their doctrine is being taught in fifty cities across the nation. Let no one underestimate the Muslims. They have their own parochial schools like this one in Chicago where Muslim children are taught to hate the white man. Even the clothes they wear are anti-white man, anti-American like these two Negro children going to school. Wherever they go the Muslims withdraw from the life of the community. They have their own stores, supermarkets, barber shops, restaurants. Here you see a progressive modern air-conditioned Muslim department store on Chicago’s South side. Their story of hatred is carried in many Negro newspapers. Here you see their Minister MALCOLM X proudly displaying five of the biggest Negro papers in America. Papers published in Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Newark, and Negro politicians, regardless of their private beliefs, respectfully listen when the leaders of the black supremacy movement speak. Here you see Borough President HULAN JACK shaking hands with ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, who is the leader of the Muslims, and here you see NAACP Director ROY WILKINS greeting Minister MALCOLM, the heir apparent to ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. Four or five times a year the Muslims assemble in one of America’s major cities to hear their leader, ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. Here you see them arriving at Washington’s Uline Arena for a meeting held only five weeks ago. Every devout Muslim attends these rallies, for sometime between now and 1970 and at just such a rally as this, the Muslims expect that ELIJAH will sound the death knell of the white man. Every precaution is taken to protect their leader. As you will shortly see, the Muslims, men and women both, submit to a complete search before entering the meeting hall. Some ten thousand persons attended the rally that you see here, all of them searched like this man. This began almost three hours before the meeting started. They are waiting now for ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, founder and spiritual leader of their group. And here he comes. He is actually ELIJAH POOLE of Georgia. During World War II, MUHAMMAD was arrested and charged with sedition and draft dodging. The Department of Justice finally dropped the charge that he advocated defeat of the white democracy and victory for the colored Japanese, but MUHAMMAD and his followers did serve time in the federal penitentiary for refusing to register for the draft.

 

But of more interest to New Yorkers is Minister MALCOLM X, the Muslims’ New York Minister, who you will shortly see. This is a remarkable man, a man who by his own admission to “News Beat” was once a procurer and a dope peddler. He served time for robbery in the Massachusetts State Penitentiary. Now he is a changed man. He will not smoke or drink. He will not even eat in a restaurant that houses a tavern. He told “News Beat” that his life changed when the Muslim faith taught him no longer to be ashamed of being a black man. Reporter LOUIS LOMAX asks Minister MALCOLM X to further explain MUHAMMAD‘S teachings. The conversation you will hear took place as LOMAX and Minister MALCOLM X were discussing the teachings of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD.

LOMAX:

Mr. ELIJAH MUHAMMAD teaches that his faith, the Islamic faith, is for the black man. The black man is good. He also uses the Old Testament incident of the serpent in Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and he sets up the proposition there that this is the great battle between good and evil and he uses the phrase “devil” and he uses it almost interchangeably and synonymously with the word snake. Now what does he mean there?

MALCOLM:

Well, number one he teaches us that this individual was a real serpent.

LOMAX:

It was not a real serpent.

MALCOLM:

That one in the garden.

LOMAX:

What was it?

MALCOLM:

But as you know the Bible is written in symbols, parables, and this serpent or snake is the symbol that is used to hide the real identity of the one that this actually was.

LOMAX:

Well, who was it?

MALCOLM:

The white man.

LOMAX:

I want to call your attention, Mr. MALCOLM, to one paragraph in this column. He says, and I quote him, “that only people bom of Allah are the black nation of whom the so-called American Negroes are descendants.”

MALCOLM:

Yes.

LOMAX:

Now, is this your standard teaching?

MALCOLM:

Yes. He teaches us that the black man by nature is divine.

LOMAX:

Now, does this mean that the white man by nature is evil?

MALCOLM:

By nature he is other than divine.

LOMAX:

Well, does this mean that he is evil. Can he do good?

MALCOLM:

By nature he is evil.

LOMAX:

He cannot do good?

MALCOLM:

History is best qualified to reward all research and we don’t have any historic example where we have found that they collectively for the people have done good.

LOMAX:

Minister MALCOLM, you now, in Chicago and Detroit, have universities of Islam, have you not?

MALCOLM:

Yes, sir, in Detroit and Chicago.

LOMAX:

And you take your parishioners, you take children from the kindergarten ages and you train them right through high school. Is this true?

MALCOLM:

Yes, sir, from the age of four up.

LOMAX:

And you have a certified parochial school operating in Chicago?

MALCOLM:

In Chicago.

LOMAX:

And in Detroit?

MALCOLM:

And in Detroit.

LOMAX:

And kids come to your school in lieu of going to what we call regular day school?

MALCOLM:

Yes, sir.

LOMAX:

What do you teach them there?

MALCOLM:

We teach them the same things that they would be taught ordinarily in school minus the Little Black Sambo story, and things that were taught to you and me when we were growing up to breed an inferiority complex in us.

LOMAX:

Do you teach them what you just said to me that the white man is somewhat evil?

MALCOLM:

You can go to any small Muslim child and ask him where is hell or who is the devil and he wouldn’t tell you that hell is down in the ground or that the devil is something invisible that you can’t see. He’ll tell you hell is right where he has been catching it and he’ll tell you the one who is responsible for him having received this hell is the devil.

LOMAX:

And he will say that this devil is the white man?

MALCOLM:

Yes.

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OFFICE MEMORANDUM

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

TO

:

DIRECTOR, FBI (25-330971)
DATE: 7/21/59

FROM

:

SAC, NEW YORK (105-7809)

SUBJECT

:

NATION OF ISLAM
IS-NOI
Remyairtel 7/16/59

The following is a substantially verbatim account of Part Three of “The Hate That Hate Produced.” Part Three was shown on 7/15/59 on the MIKE WALLACE “News Beat” show on Station WNTA-TV, New York.

WALLACE:

Tonight we take a look at the impact of the black supremacist movements upon the power structure of the New York Negro community. Not infrequently, when the Harlem leaders gather, JAMES R. LAWSON and Minister MALCOLM X are there. JAMES LAWSON is President of the United African Nationalist Movement. He is a man who said that ROY WILKINS is an “Uncle Tom.” He calls ARTHUR SPINGARN, President of the NAACP, a Zionist Jew. He calls United Nations Under Secretary RALPH BUNCH the “George Washington of Israel.” Minister MALCOLM X is the leader of the New York Muslims. They are the purveyors of the doctrine that the white man is evil by nature, that he is incapable of doing good, that he must be destroyed; and when these black supremacists hold their major meetings such politicians as ADAM CLAYTON POWELL and HULAN JACK and City Councilman EARL BROWN are not infrequently there. Here you see City Councilman EARL BROWN addressing a Muslim rally. He is at the podium. Note Minister MALCOLM X and Muslim leader ELIJAH MUHAMMAD in the background. Manhattan Borough President HULAN JACK was at that meeting and here you see him, his back, shaking hands with ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. It should be made very clear that none of these men, EARL BROWN, HULAN JACK, ADAM POWELL, is a black nationalist or Muslim; but they are politicians, leaders of mass movements, and they need votes and so sometimes they find it necessary to rub shoulders with the black supremacists.

 

On May 18 of last year, New York woke up to this news story:

 

HULAN JACK, the Negro who had been elected to the highest municipal office ever occupied by a man of his race in this nation’s history had been booed off a Harlem street corner by members of his own race. Clearly something was afoot in Harlem. No one seemed to know quite what.

 

“News Beat” reporter LOUIS LOMAX covered that story. LOU, what were the facts behind that story?

LOMAX:

To capsule it, MIKE, the Muslims were miffed with HULAN JACK because he had not attended some rallies that were held in Harlem; they organized the booing session. Minister MALCOLM X gave the signal by walking through a tavern door, and the booing began.

WALLACE:

The booing session took place at a NAACP meeting, didn’t it?

LOMAX:

That is correct. They were celebrating the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision desegregating schools.

WALLACE:

And the Muslims organized the booing?

LOMAX:

Yes, they did. The booing signal was when MALCOLM X walked through the tavern door, and once the booing began, many non-Muslims joined in the well-organized spontaneous demonstration.

WALLACE:

Well then, what did HULAN JACK do to bolster his popularity in Harlem as a result of this booing incident?

LOMAX:

Well, I do not want to make any unwarranted conclusions, but the records show that within a week or two HULAN JACK hired a Negro public relations man. A month and a half later he welcomed Mr. ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, the leader of the Muslims, to New York.

WALLACE:

Well, what do you say?

LOMAX:

Just this. That there was unrest in the Negro community, that HULAN JACK was very unpopular, and that the Muslims were those who expressed this sentiment.

WALLACE:

And he wooed the Muslims?

LOMAX:

Yes.

WALLACE:

That was the story, that is the story that the headlines failed to tell. . . .

WALLACE:

Let us take a closer look at this man—a closer look at this man called brilliant by Congressman ADAM POWELL. This man, MALCOLM X, who preached a vesper service in ADAM POWELL church. There he is with the glasses.

 

MALCOLM X, by his own admission to “News Beat,” is a former dope peddler and procurer, an ex-convict who served time for theft in Michigan and Massachusetts prisons. He is a changed man now, he says, because ELIJAH MUHAMMAD’s personal brand of Islam taught him no longer to be ashamed of being a black man. So it becomes evident that the responsible leaders of the Negro community are fully aware of the activities and teachings of the black supremacists.

 

But what about the NAACP? This organization is dedicated to the elimination of all racism, black and white. What does it know about the drive for black supremacy? Reporter LOMAX asked NAACP Executive Secretary ROY WIL-KINS what is the attitude of his organization toward the black supremacists and this is what ROY WILKINS said:

LOMAX:

Mr. WILKINS, you said that you are not aware of any of these street corner meetings and what they have been saying.

WILKINS:

Oh, I’m aware of the meetings, but all I said was that I haven’t stood around on street corners and listened to any speeches.

LOMAX:

Has the NAACP ever taken any kind of action against these people or have you ever raised the question of whether they should be on the street corner or whether they should be allowed to say these kinds of things?

WILKINS:

Oh no. We believe in free speech. If they want to speak on street corners that is up to them.

LOMAX:

Let me move on to something else. Several Negro newspapers, specifically the Pittsburgh Courier and the Los Angeles Herald Dispatch, carry a column written by one Mr. ELIJAH MUHAMMAD in which he advances the thesis that white men are devils and snakes.

WILKINS:

Certainly.

LOMAX:

And that they are the evil doers that are synonymous with evil and should be destroyed. Are you aware of this column and the Muslim movement in general which Mr. MUHAMMAD heads?

WILKINS:

I do not read the Los Angeles Herald Dispatch at all and I must say that in reading the Pittsburgh Courier I have never read a column by Mr. who?

LOMAX:

ELIJAH MUHAMMAD.

WILKINS:

ELIJAH MUHAMMAD? No, no.

LOMAX:

You have never seen his column?

WILKINS:

I have seen the name, but I have never been induced to read it.

WALLACE:

We found it incredible that ROY WILKINS was unaware of the existence of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD. Every other responsible Negro leader in the city knows about the Muslims, about ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, and about Minister MALCOLM X, who is the New York leader of the Muslims, the heir apparent to ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, the man who ADAM CLAYTON POWELL called “brilliant.”

 

Then our research staff unearthed these picture.

 

Here you see ROY WILKINS conversing with MALCOLM X. That is ROY WILKINS in profile and MALCOLM X just behind him to his right. And here you see the two men shaking hands. Now maybe Mr. WILKINS does not know ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, maybe he does not know that the Muslims have parochial schools where they teach the youngsters that the white man is evil by nature and must be destroyed; maybe Mr. WILKINS does not know that there are about two hundred fifty thousand of these people in the United States; maybe he does not know that the members of the black nationalist movement have taken to street corners in New York to preach hatred of the white man; to call ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, for instance, the “African white goddess.” Maybe he does not know all these things, but I think he should. As leader of the NAACP, he not only should know these things, but he and his colleagues should begin to do something about it. The truth is that Negro leaders do know about these hate merchants. They have been aware of the Muslims and of the black nationalists for some years now; they have tried in effect to ignore them, to sweep them under the rug.

 

We call this series “The Hate That Hate Produced” because it is our conviction that the hate that we have been learning about is the hatred that a minority of Negroes are returning for the hate the majority of Negroes have received.

 

Senator HUBERT HUMPHREY told the NAACP fiftieth-anniversary convention today that the Negro people are to be congratulated for returning love for hate, but here we are seeing tragic evidence, frightening evidence, that some Negroes are returning hate for hate. The white community must accept a good deal of the blame for the indignities the Negroes have suffered. The white community must admit its share of the blame and take corrective action. But the Negro community is not blameless. They and all of their responsible leaders must move quickly to root out the hatemongers in their midst.

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