Firnando
2010-01-22 19:00:07 UTC
The Cure for Racism
When he was in Makkah, Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) wrote a letter
to his loyal assistants in Harlem... from his heart:
"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of
true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in
this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other
Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly
speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me
by people of all colors.
"I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my seven
circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad, I drank
water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between
the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of
Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat.
"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They
were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we
were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and
brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could
exist between the white and non-white.
"America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that
erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the
Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in
America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was
removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen
sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective
of their color.
"You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage,
what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my
thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous
conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions,
I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality
of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept
an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in
hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.
"During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the
same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while
praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of
blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest
of white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the white
Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African
Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.
"We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had
removed the white from their minds, the white from their behaviour, and the
white from their attitude.
"I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the
Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness
of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their
'differences' in color.
"With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called
'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven
solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save
America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany
by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.
"Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual
insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The
American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only
reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American
whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from
the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger
generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on
the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the
only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably
must lead to.
"Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more
humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped
upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in
America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion
of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought
of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors - honors that in
America would be bestowed upon a King - not a Negro.
"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Sincerely,
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz" (Malcolm X)
(From the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" with assistance from Alex Haley, the
author of ROOTS)
When he was in Makkah, Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) wrote a letter
to his loyal assistants in Harlem... from his heart:
"Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of
true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in
this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other
Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly
speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me
by people of all colors.
"I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my seven
circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad, I drank
water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between
the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of
Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat.
"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They
were of all colors, from blue-eyed blonds to black-skinned Africans. But we
were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and
brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could
exist between the white and non-white.
"America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that
erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the
Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in
America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was
removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen
sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective
of their color.
"You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage,
what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my
thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous
conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions,
I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality
of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept
an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in
hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.
"During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the
same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while
praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of
blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest
of white. And in the words and in the actions and in the deeds of the white
Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African
Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.
"We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had
removed the white from their minds, the white from their behaviour, and the
white from their attitude.
"I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the
Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness
of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their
'differences' in color.
"With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called
'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven
solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save
America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany
by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.
"Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual
insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The
American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only
reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American
whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from
the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger
generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on
the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the
only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably
must lead to.
"Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more
humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped
upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in
America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion
of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought
of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors - honors that in
America would be bestowed upon a King - not a Negro.
"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.
Sincerely,
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz" (Malcolm X)
(From the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" with assistance from Alex Haley, the
author of ROOTS)