Malcolm X was no fasist

It would be so simple to look at the life of Malcolm X and neatly sum him up as a convict, a racist and a defector, as Saab Lofton has apparently done in his article "Malcolm X -- the most overrated man in history," featured in the Sept. 26 issue of the Golden Gater.

But we can't do that if we wish to retain any sense of truth or justice in the appraisal of a man's worth. Malcolm X was a child whose father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm X was a young man who tried to find his identity in the Islamic nation. Malcolm X spent 10 years of his life believing a doctrine which ultimately preached racism.

But Malcolm X possessed something that allowed him to become something more, that allowed him to be remembered as much, much more than just a "defector." Malcolm X possessed the strength to change.

Despite his prior convictions of separatism and bigotry, he managed to get away from these vices and embrace a new ideology: All men are equal.

"Since I learned the truth ... my dearest friends have come to include all kinds -- some Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics and even atheists! I have friends who are called capitalists, socialists, and communists! Some of my friends are moderates, conservatives, and extremists -- some are even Uncle Toms! My friends today are black, brown, red, yellow and white!" (from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X").

Is this the racist Malcolm that Lofton so thoroughly deplores and labels as "fascist"? The truth is that despite 10 years of being told his race was the only one deserving of life, Malcolm X disagreed.

So what is this "X-mania?" It's not as simple as a blind worshipping of a martyr. It's not as simple as an "Orwellian revisionism." It's certainly not the fallacious argument that "Black people haven't been taught decent poli sci since the Black Panthers held their Political Education classes." No, the concrete power of the X is not equitable to the closed-minded KKK -- in fact, it is the opposite. The strength of the X is the same strength that Malcolm himself possessed, the strength to evolve, to progress from believing a lie to discovering a truth.

And if the belief that all men are equal is fascism, then I am a fascist.

[ Golden Gater Online October 3, 1995 ]

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