LOMAX: According to your own newspaper, one of the things you Muslims may _do_ in the near future is vote.
MALCOLM X: Yes. After long and prayerful consideration, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad allowed us to announce the possibility of Muslims voting. The announcement came at our annual Saviour’s Day convention in Chicago.
MALCOLM X: Mr. Muhammad is the only one who can explain that fully. However, I can say that we may register and be ready to vote. Then we will seek out candidates who represent our interests and support them. They need not be Muslims; what we want are race men who will speak out for our people.
LOMAX: There are rumors that you may run against Adam Clayton Powell.
MALCOLM X: Why must I run against a Negro? We have had enough of Negroes running against and fighting each other. The better bet is that we would put a Muslim candidate in the field against a devil, somebody who is against all we stand for.
LOMAX: What are the chances of the Black Muslims joining us in picket lines for better jobs?...
MALCOLM X: As I told you, only Mr. Muhammad can answer that. But let me tell you something: Better jobs and housing are only temporary solutions. They are aspects of tokenism and don’t go to the heart of the problem.
This is why integration will not work. It assumes that the two races, black and white, are equal and can be made to live as one. This is not true.
The white man is by nature a devil and must be destroyed. The black man will inherit the earth; he will resume control, taking back the position he held centimes ago when the white devil was crawling around the caves of Europe on his all fours. Before the white devil came into our lives we had a civilization, we had a culture, we were living in silks and satins. Then he put us in chains and placed us aboard the “Good Ship Jesus,” and we have lived in hell ever since.
Now the white man’s time is over. Tokenism will not help him, and it will doom us. Complete separation will save us--and who knows, it might make God decide to give the white devil a few more years.
Baldwin, James. _The Fire Next Time._ New York: Dial Press, 1963.
Bennett, Lerone, Jr. _Before the Mayflower._ Chicago: Johnson Publishing Co., 1962.