Message to the Blackman in America

By The Honorable Elijah Muhammad

(Peace Be Upon Him)

ANSWER TO CRITICS

CHAPTER 135

CLARIFICATION OF CONFUSION SURROUNDING MUSLIMS

In order to clarify some of the confusion surrounding Muslim outlooks and objectives, I will confront the rumors and false allegations of Muslim ‘threats of violence’ with a direct statement which answers the implied question “Will the Black Muslims Attack America?” in a direct and forthright manner. These are some statements I gave in an interview to the New York Herald Tribune Newspaper.

ON HATE AND VIOLENCE

“We are not going to take part in any violence whatsoever. We’re not going to do anything other than what we are doing. That is trying to deliver the truth to our people and teach them that they are supposed to be Muslims, and that means they are supposed to be righteous people and that we have shed all things that pertain to wickedness.

“We have stripped ourselves of arms to let you know that we are not people of violence. We don’t intend to attack you. We have no idea or knowledge of anything like that coming in the future.

“Because if we attacked you, we would have to have superior weapons to attack you with, and we don’t have factories nor earth to dig metals to manufacture tools or weapons such as you have.

“All this is your creation, and, therefore, if we would get some of this, you would have to let us have it – and you would not give me a gun to shoot you with. Therefore, God forbid us even to accept weapons and even to carry anything like weapons to fight with. Because to fight is with Him, and you are not with us.”

ON ISLAM IN AMERICA

The aim and purpose of Islam here among my people is to give them a knowledge of self and a knowledge of God, knowledge of their religion, Islam and to separate them in time, that these 17 or 20 million American dark people should go for themselves.

“This is the basis of the whole, it is to separate our people and put them by themselves.”

ON NONBELIEVERS

“We have respect for them and their professions, and we try to treat them as we treat ourselves, for that matter. We know they are not believers as we are. We know that.

“But as long as they tolerate our faith, we tolerate theirs, and we treat them as brothers.”

ON POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT

“He would have to be in sympathy with us and he would have to have some knowledge of the aims and purposes of Islam in America.”

ON WHITES AND NEGROES

“This is the real trouble: the whites oppose us, the black people of America, who were their slaves once upon a time, from ever becoming anything like self-independent. They want to keep them subject to themselves in a more educational and scientific way, other than their fathers.

“Their fathers only used the common knowledge of enslaving our people. But, today their children can use one of the smartest scientific ways against our people to keep them subjected to them that ever were invented by a race of people since time was.

“We want what you want today, and that is independence. We want peace, and, whether you want peace or not, we want peace and security from you. You are our worst enemy. We have no other people who are an enemy to us but you, because we don’t live in the country of other people.

“We live only with you, and we have been here for 400 years, and you say now that we are free, but yet you are doing everything to keep us from exercising the rights as equals or of a free people.

“This is what I want you to understand. We are tired of suffering, brutality, beatings, killings, just because you don’t like us, and just hate us, and absolutely knowing that we are powerless to resist because you have all the odds against us.

“You are absolutely the boss, and we have nothing. And we are asking to leave you, that’s all we’re asking. We can’t get along with you in peace; you don’t want us in peace.

“If we sit over there in that house across the street, peaceful all day and all night, after a while that worries you. You will send someone around to see what is going on over there in that house.

“It’s the white man’s way of starting trouble – breaking the peace of people by interfering with their peace. We’re not sitting over there in that house planning anything but are trying to plan peace for the house.”

ON SEPARATE TERRITORY

“The American white man is not going to move out of his estate to give to the so-called Negroes. We are not asking you to do any such thing.

“No, only unless you prevent our going to our own. If you are going to prevent us from going to our own, or back where we came from, where you found us, then give us a place here to ourselves.

“There has been too much talk about separation and about our acting or demanding a territory here. We’re not demanding territory in America. No, sir, we’re asking America only if they don’t allow us to go back to our own people and to the country from which we came.

“Then give us a place to ourselves; as you know and we have learned through experience for 400 years, we can’t get along in peace together. You’re not going to accept us as your equals, and we know you’re not going to do so. We disregard your promises because you are not going to live up to them; because 100 per cent of your people will not agree with such. And we have proof today in the South.”

ON “BLACK SUPREMACY”

“Allah has revealed that the black is the original Man, and that’s what I teach. Now, where this supremacy teaching comes in that is charged by the disbelievers – that I teach it in order to suit their particular purpose of charging us with being an aggressive movement, or intending to become such, because of the teachings of one being superior over the other.

“We say that the black man is the first man in the sun, and then they take this and just change it around – that he is teaching supremacy. And that we are not doing. We already know that we are inferior to you here in America.

“We cannot say physically or even mentally that we are equal, nor say your superior, when it comes to actual physical or educational ability.”

INTEGRATION IN THE SOUTH

“The head of this movement, Mr. King, is trying to force the white men in the South to do that which is against his will and nature, because some of the Northern parties of the white people, maybe in Washington, have said to him that this should be done and should have this in the Constitution and, therefore, you should enforce it and, therefore, have it enforced by the government.

“But Mr. King has not learned as yet that the white man in the South is brethren to the white man in Washington and the Washington white man is a brother to the Southern white man – that they are not going to go to war over the Negro and kill each other for the sake of the unlearned Negro – of the knowledge of self and others – to integrate into that which they don’t master, give me a piece of your meat that you have there in your house.

“Therefore, Mr. King is making a fool of himself in the South and acting like a dog around the house, where the master stands at the door and the dog wants something to eat and he just waddles all around the door, around the master’s feet, whipping his tail on the ground and grinning and leaning his ears back on his neck to show that he is a good peaceful dog, and master, give me a piece of your meat that you have there in your house.

“And this while there is plenty of meat for the dog in the bushes out there, if he would go out and hunt for it.”

ON JAMES MEREDITH

“Poor fellow, trying to force himself into a school where it is 100 per cent white and they’re telling him they don’t want him. And then the Army is standing around trying to force him in there – that’s their crazy idea.

“I wouldn’t want the Army to think about coming to help me against a white man, to allow me to come into his house or in the school or his restaurant, or anything else that he owns.

“If you tell me, I don’t want you here, that’s sufficient. I’m gone.”

ON SELF DEFENSE

“In a case where the person…..wants to fight and he pounces upon us, sometimes without even warning us, we want our own men and women and our girls to learn to try to protect themselves the best they can in case of attack.

“But in the case of the so-called American Negro, we have nothing to fight back with. If you come to the door shooting, we have no guns here to shoot back with, so, therefore, the right is with God, as it is written in the Book.

“He will defend us if we believe in Him and trust Him, and we’re not going to start fighting with anyone to have Him to defend us. But if we are attacked, we depend on Him to defend us because He has stripped us.”

TO BE CONTINUED INSHA ‘ALLAH