A footnote, to whom?
>Well, we agree that there was tacit agreement with the Klan. You try to
>construe tacit agreement to simply mean a meeting--a chewing of the fat
>with Klan buddies. But what was tacitly agreed upon in that meeting? Can
>that reasonably be construed as cooperation? I am putting forth the
>argument that what must have been tacitly agreed to can be so construed.
>And that is what Malcolm X was so shameful about.
Shameful, to whom?
> Malcolm's actions are shameful in any case and Rakesh is right that there
> are a range of militant activists like Foreman, Baker, and Hamer who
> should be respected at least on Malcolm's level. On the other hand, even a
> nice liberal like Taylor Branch in his recent installment of his King
> biography highlighted (sympathetically) how important Malcolm's voice was
> as a militant counterpoint to King, especially in the urban areas largely
> untouched by the early civil rights activism.
In the context of White Supremacy and all that it has done to the minds of Black people, I don't find the NOI's actions to be all that shameful, and I don't need to read a book to understand how important that Malcolm talking shit to white folks was to the mental health of Black people.
We need (and still need) someone to stand up every once in awhile on our behalf, and curse "white" folks out. It's one of the things that prevents us from losing our minds completely.
This is self-evident to most Black people, and it's fascinating to me watching "white" intellectuals try to debate the obvious, or make claims as to what they thought Malcolm was about, or whose "friend" he was.
In the end, the only people with the real say are those who he had the most influence over, Black people, and they frankly don't care anymore what most "white" Leftists have to say.
You can put out a resounding resolution from every "white" Left and Socialist organization saying "Malcolm Did Shameful Things!", and all the Black people would send back a response that said "Fuck You!".
Go ahead, feel free to throw back some intellectual "refutation" of what I just said. It won't matter, at least to those who do matter.
Art McGee
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