Your response seems to me to be very heavy on the colour of skin rather than the content of character you claim to place at the forefront of your thinking. I suspect you truly do believe and behave in this way; however, go back and re-read your response. Everything in it is a justification of your viewpoint based solely on the racial identity of the children and grandchildren you have and the political representatives you supported with your vote.
Upon experiencing Mecca and seeing the diversity of the true Muslim faith engaging in devotional acts in the spiritual centre of Islam, Malcolm wrote: "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 … 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 …"
He then went back to America and, to the shock and consternation of his own followers, set out to live the new conclusions his experiences had forced upon him. So yes, he used to believe in the NOI way. And he died, in part, for rejecting it. There's lots of evidence to back that up. It's not an assertion. It's documented historical fact.
My point is people CAN change and their contributions should not be defined by one period in their life but by its entirety. He was wrong for a big chunk of it, then saw the error of his ways and started to pursue a more inclusive, expansive and generous humanist path, for which the Nation of Islam, the CIA and the FBI felt he needed to die before he started converting too many followers to his updated philosophies.
I wasn't challenging your belief in racial equality in any way. I read your response as "he doth protest too much." A re-examination of your conception of who and what Malcolm X was may be warranted on your part. Just saying.
