Malcolm X
Page 21
I.
How do you feel about mixing of the races?
M.
We are one hundred percent against inter-marriage and the mixing of the races.
I.
How do you account for the mixing of the races within your own membership?
M.
What do you mean within our own membership?
I.
Some of the members that you have are not full-blood Negroes.
M.
This did not come through inter-marriage. This came when the white man owned our people during slavery. He was able to take advantage of our women at will. My mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were the property of the white man.
I.
… How do you feel about the efforts of the NAACP insofar as improving the relationship is concerned, the advancement of the Negro and so forth?
M.
The NAACP has done a job according to its own understanding. I imagine it was effective in its day. But we are living in a new day now and the black people on the scene now aren’t willing to wait around here for a white man to make up his mind that we are human beings. The whites don’t have to go to the Supreme Court or before the President for freedom. I don’t see where black people should have to wait for some presidential proclamation or some senator or congressman to make up his mind that we are free.
I.
One final question, Mr. MALCOLM X, why the use of the “X”?
M.
X stands for the unknown, and if a Chinese were to walk in here with the name of Patrick Murphy you would think he was crazy because Patrick Murphy is an Irish name, a white man’s name, and a Chinaman is a yellow man and has no business with a white man’s name. And as a yellow man has no business with a white man’s name, I don’t see how these black people can walk around here calling themselves Murphy, Johnson and Bunche and Powell, which are actually white people’s names. So the Honorable ELIJAH MUHAMMAD teaches us that during slavery the white man named us after himself to specify us as his property, and when we wake up and turn back toward the education of Islam and become Muslims, we give him back his name, we give him back his religion, we give him back his flag and everything else that goes with it.
TRUE COPY
September 19, 1963
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Hoover:
Are we doing anything to curb the activities of Black Muslim leader “Malcolm X”?
Aren’t his ideas somewhat on a parallel with those of Adolph Hitler?
Isn’t “Malcolm X” in the category of traitors to our country in that what he is advocating in black supremacy is the same as plotting to overthrow our government?
Why isn’t this hate-full man stopped now before it’s too late?
[BUREAU DELETION]
September 23, 1963
[BUREAU DELETION]
Dear [BUREAU DELETION]
Your letter of September 19, 1963, with enclosure, has been received.
I am unable to answer your specific inquiry due to the confidential nature of our files. I would like to assure you, however, that the FBI is carrying out its responsibilities in the internal security field with the same dispatch and thoroughness which have characterized our investigations in the past.
Sincerely yours,
John Edgar Hoover
Director
NOTE: Correspondent is not identifiable in Bureau files.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
[BUREAU DELETION]
Report of: [BUREAU DELETION] b7C
New York
Date: 11/15/63
Office: New York,
Field Office File No.: 105-8999
Bureau file No.: 100-399321
Title: MALCOLM K. LITTLE
Character: INTERNAL SECURITY - NATION OF ISLAM
Synopsis:
Subject continues to reside 23-13 97th Street, East Elmhurst, Queens, NY, and is Minister of Muhammad’s Mosque No. 7, NYC, and is also a national representative of the NOI. Subject served as an Interim Minister of the NOI in Washington, D. C, from April to 10/63. Since 8/26/63, a new regular minister has been placed in charge of the NOI in Philadelphia, Pa., and subject is no longer in charge of the NOI there. Subject’s NOI activity and speeches at NYC and around the U.S. set forth. Sources report animosity between subject and members of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD’s family has apparently quieted down. Subject’s public appearances, statements and activities around the U.S. including those dealing with the racial situation, set out. Subject reported to be in contact with representative of SIERRA LEONE Mission to the UN.
Animosity Between Subject and
the Family of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD
On several dates during March, April and May, 1963, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that there continued to be a feeling of hostility and resentment between subject and members of ELIJAH MUHAMMAD’s family.
According to [BUREAU DELETION] this animosity was particularly aggravated by an article which appeared in an April edition of the New York Times to the effect that subject overshadowed ELUAH MUHAMMAD, and was taking over the NOI from ELIJAH who was ill.
In May, 1963, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that this animosity has apparently quieted down during this month since subject had written an apologetic letter to ELIJAH MUHAMMAD and ELIJAH had told subject that they should not be divided but should work together.
Statements and Activities Relative
to Racial Matters
The May 15, 1963 edition of the New York Herald Tribune contained an article datelined Birmingham, Alabama, which indicated that JEREMIAH X, a black Muslim from Atlanta, was in Birmingham observing the racial trouble there. JEREMIAH X condemned MARTIN LUTHER KING’s non-violent movement and he claimed that subject was coming to Birmingham to hold mass rallies there.
[BUREAU DELETION] by a Special Agent (SA) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it was determined that subject did not plan on going to Birmingham as indicated in the above article. It was further determined that subject had not been ordered to Birmingham by ELIJAH MUHAMMAD or specifically invited there by JEREMIAH X, the head of the NOI in that area.
The May 17, 1963 edition of the New York Times contained an article datelined Washington, D. C, May 16, 1963, which reflected that subject attacked President KENNEDY for the manner in which he dealt with the Birmingham racial crisis. Subject claimed that President KENNEDY’s statement to Alabama editors in a recent meeting with them, that failure of the non-violent movement for Negro rights might spur Negro extremist groups such as the black Muslims, indicated that President KENNEDY did not want Negroes treated right because it was right, but because the world was watching.
The May 25, 1963 edition of the New York Amsterdam News contained an article which reflected that in an interview with subject at Washington, D. C, subject had attacked MARTIN LUTHER KING, JACKIE ROBINSON, and FLOYD PATTERSON as unwitting tools of white liberals. Subject claimed that the lesson of Birmingham is that “Negroes have lost their fear of the white man’s reprisals and will react today with violence, if provoked.”
On June 13, 1963, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that subject had been instructed by ELIJAH MUHAMMAD not to take part or assist the NAACP or any other Negro organization in their demonstrations for civil rights.
On [BUREAU DELETION] 1963, [BUREAU DELETION] advised that in subject’s speech at the NOI Bazaar held at the Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, on August 17, 1963, subject had informed the audience that ELIJAH MUHAMMAD and the NOI are in no way supporting or participating in the March on Washington being held by civil rights groups in Washington, D. C, on August 28, 1963. During this speech subject warned that the March would probably end in a bloodbath, and no Negro should be foolish enough to participate.
At an FOI meeting held in MUHAMMAD’s Mosque No. 7, New York City, on August 19, 1963, subject informed those in attendance that any
members of the NOI who participated in the March on Washington on August 28, 1963, would be given ninety days out of the mosque. Subject further stated that if any member belonged to a union which required them to participate in the March, they had better “get sick.”
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.
[BUREAU DELETION]
(IS) 25-330971
Date:
December 6, 1963
To:
Chief, U. S. Secret Service
From:
John Edgar Hoover, Director
Subject:
NATION OF ISLAM
INTERNAL SECURITY-NOI
[BUREAU DELETION] had confirmed reports that Malcolm X Little, Minister of the Nation of Islam (NOI) Temple in New York City, and leading NOI spokesman, had been suspended from the NOI on December 4, 1963 by Elijah Muhammad for expressing joy over the death of President Kennedy.
Malcolm X Little, who spoke at a rally held by the NOI in New York City on December 1, 1963, stated that the late President Kennedy had been “twiddling his thumbs” at the slaying of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu. Little added that he “never foresaw that the chickens would come home to roost so soon.” He also stated, “Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they always made me glad.” Elijah Muhammad, National Leader of the NOI, was scheduled to speak at this New York rally but canceled his appearance out of respect to the death of President Kennedy and instructed NOI members to make no comments concerning the assassination of the President.
The NOI is an all-Negro, anti-white, semi-religious organization which advocates complete separation of the races and teaches extreme hatred of all white men.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MEMORANDUM
TO:
DIRECTOR, FBI (25-330971-38)
DATE: 1/23/64
FROM:
SAC, PHOENIX (105-93)
SUBJECT:
NATION OF ISLAM IS-NOI
[BUREAU DELETION] made available the following information on the dates designated:
1/2/64
ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, MALCOLM LITTLE, [BUREAU DELETION] and another individual [BUREAU DELETION] were in a conversation at which time ELIJAH gave a long religious talk using many parables. ELIJAH told of the great power of Allah and how he has followed everything Allah has told him. He mentioned how Allah has let him know in advance of many things. ELIJAH told them that he is just a man as the rest of them with a message from Allah. He said the people make a great man such as he is now. He stated if he [sic]people understand his mission as well as the devils do everything would be all right. ELIJAH mentioned the President’s assassination and MALCOLM’s New York speech. He said he feels Allah when everything is right and he knows this is good. He talked about Moses, Jesus and so forth. He mentioned about after he put MALCOLM down from public speaking how the devils had called hinting there was a split between ELIJAH and MALCOLM, and ELIJAH told them there was not. ELIJAH told how he helped MALCOLM in his statements to the press when MALCOLM first started speaking in Harlem. He said he had been hearing about MALCOLM this and MALCOLM that and even MALCOLM being called leader. ELIJAH said now this one and that one is getting jealous. He told MALCOLM that MALCOLM was ELIJAH’s property to which MALCOLM agreed. He told MALCOLM he had made an error. MALCOLM stated he had asked permission in a letter before he said anything and he understood it was all right. ELIJAH said he could not understand why MALCOLM took this poison and poured it out and told them it was poison. He told MALCOLM that one cannot use fire to fight fire. He said all of the time MALCOLM had been referring to something else and ELIJAH thought he had a sly scheme or shrewd plan but not this time. ELIJAH stated we can’t organize the man. He said if anyone had told him that MALCOLM was going to use things like that he would not have believed it. He told MALCOLM if he loved Allah then he must love ELIJAH as the messenger of Allah. MALCOLM stated he would rather be dead than to say anything against ELIJAH. MALCOLM said he didn’t say anything to anyone about ELIJAH and had been using parables to speak. ELIJAH asked MALCOLM how could [BUREAU DELETION] have gotten the wrong impression from what MALCOLM had said. ELIJAH stated they all wrote to him and said the same thing. He told MALCOLM he could not walk through the woods with fire in his hands and not start a fire. He said one must carry a bucket of water and not fire.
ELIJAH stated he had to speak out on KENNEDY’s death as the whole nation would have been against them. MALCOLM agreed. ELIJAH mentioned even some of the sympathetic devils were outraged at MALCOLM’s statement.
ELIJAH asked MALCOLM why MALCOLM had been checking into ELIJAH’s personal affairs [BUREAU DELETION], MALCOLM stated that he had not asked anything about this but had heard it in Chicago. MALCOLM said he talked to [BUREAU DELETION] about it and he already knew it. MALCOLM said he noticed the people in Chicago were very cold to ELIJAH’s family in Chicago on Savior’s Day (apparently referring to February, 1963). MALCOLM said [BUREAU DELETION]asked him to eat with him that night and brought the matter up. [BUREAU DELETION] told him (MALCOLM) about it and he, MALCOLM, acted as if he knew nothing about it. MALCOLM said [BUREAU DELETION] had stated a lost-found sister in Boston had said the FBI had asked her about it, and told [BUREAU DELETION]. MALCOLM mentioned [BUREAU DELETION] told him, the person she planned on marrying, about this. This brother told [BUREAU DELETION] who called and told [BUREAU DELETION] in New York. MALCOLM stated he called and told [BUREAU DELETION] back (apparently in Boston) and told him he had put pressure on the sister and made her say these things which she did not mean. MALCOLM said he told [BUREAU DELETION] to drop it and that he, MALCOLM, never discussed it with anyone else. ELIJAH told MALCOLM he could not prove any of this. MALCOLM said he thought ELIJAH had tried to tell MALCOLM of this one time in Phoenix. MALCOLM mentioned ELIJAH asked him what he, MALCOLM, thought of [BUREAU DELETION] and that MALCOLM changed the subject because he was afraid to hear it. MALCOLM said he told [BUREAU DELETION] he thought it would be a good idea to tell some of their trusted people so they would be in a receptive spirit if they heard of it from any of the people and could handle the matter. MALCOLM told [BUREAU DELETION] he was going to write ELIJAH and tell what [BUREAU DELETION] reaction would be and he hoped ELIJAH would allow MALCOLM to tell others who would understand it too. ELIJAH spoke about how some people have said that he and [BUREAU DELETION] are separated but that they are not. ELIJAH said he cannot stay in Chicago because of the pressure on him all of the time and because of the weather. He said one of them must stay there all of the time so she stays there in Chicago and ELIJAH lives in Phoenix because of the good weather.
SECTION 10
January 29, 1964–April 15, 1964
REPORTS:
1. January 29, 1964. SAC, New York to Director. Airtel
2. February 5, 1964. New York
3. February 10, 1964
4. March 3, 1964. SAC, Miami to Director. Airtel
5. March 9, 1964. New York
6. March 12, 1964. SAC, Phoenix to Director. Airtel
7. March 11, 1964. New York
8. March 13, 1964. New York
9. March 27, 1964. Chicago
10. April 3, 1964. Boston
11. April 14, 1964. New York to Director. Teletype
12. April 15, 1964. New York
Section 10 outlines Malcolm’s 1964 activities until his trip to Africa in April. Early in 1964, the division between Malcolm and Elijah continued to widen. In January, Malcolm spent some time in Florida with Cassius Clay, as Clay prepared to meet Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing championship. Although he had been silenced, Malcolm still served as spiritual advisor to the victorious Clay, who soon changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Malcolm also valued his friendship during the difficult period of his suspension, as he reflects in his autobiography.
Cassius
Clay and I are not together today. But I always must be grateful to him at just this time, when he was in Miami training to fight Sonny Liston, Cassius invited me, Betty, and the children to come there as his guests—as a sixth anniversary present to Betty and me. (p.303)
On March 8, Malcolm declared his break with the NOI and his desire to form his own “politically oriented black nationalist party.” The FBI had already received information that he was planning to leave the NOI, predicated on an informant’s belief that Malcolm might oppose the NOI leadership of Elijah Muhammad with Clay’s support.
Ali remained loyal to Elijah Muhammad, who harshly criticized Malcolm’s creation of the Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI). Elijah Muhammad predicted that Malcolm “would not be successful and he will come running back and ask to be forgiven.” The report notes that the NOI soon began eviction procedures to reclaim Malcolm’s house in East Elmhurst, Queens, and Elijah warned Malcolm to stop interfering with NOI affairs. Amidst the mounting activity, tension, and threats, Malcolm journeyed to Africa and Asia, where he made his pilgrimage to Mecca. In his autobiography, Malcolm reported:
I left New York quietly (little realizing that I was going to return noisily). Few people were told I was leaving at all. I didn’t want some State Department or other roadblocks put in my way at the last minute. Only my wife, Betty, and my three girls and a few close associates came with me to Kennedy International Airport, (p.320)
FBI
Date: 1/29/64
TO:
FROM: