Chapt erINTRODUCTI O N

R el igi ou s Background % Nobl e Drew Al

W D . Fard% i s Nationalisti c Vi ews

A Summary of th e Purpo s e s o f the Mov

THE I NFLUENCE OF THE BLA %% MUSIJMS ON BALISM 0 l % I % % % I I 0 % % % I 0

On the Black C ommunity in GeneralReac t i on o f Organi z ed El ement s of

Influenc e on Bas i s o f Memb ershipAtt itude s Refl e c t e d in Poll Re sult

On Speci fic Mbmb ers of the Black MusEldri dge Cl eaver

The c onc ept of Nat i onali sm as an i de olo gy has deve

loped int o a sub j e ct o f ma j or proporti ons among s o c i ol ogi st s

and hi st orians in thi s c entury . Black Nati onali sm has b e en

the fo cus of a gr eat deal of study , both c onc erning Afri can

Black Nati onali sm and Ameri can Black Nati onali sm . Whil e I

was fini shing my re s earch on thi s pro j e c t , I wat che d a spe c

ial TV-program on % Black Pride %

(WPIX— TV , Channel 1 1 , % % ) ,

in which a family told of how th e ir c onc ept of i dentity i s

relat e d t o Afri ca and Swahil i language , and how they t each

their children t o ob serve Afri can nati onal cust oms of dre s s ,

mythology , holidays , and eat ing habit s . My area o f int ere st

i s th e Black Muslim1movement ' s influenc e on thi s conc ept

in Ameri ca . My approach will b e hi st ori cal , and I ackn

owle dge a great deal o f dependency on C . Eri c Linc oln ' s

1The t itl e % Black Musl ims % for the % Nati on of I slam %

was c o ine d by C . Eri c Linc oln in hi s b o ok , The Black Muslimsin Ameri ca fir st publi she d in 1 9 61 by Beac on Pre s s .

BAC% GROUND OF BLAC% NATIO NALI SM I N AMERI CA

First , in order t o s e e the Black Muslim influenc e

on Black Nat i onali sm in Ameri ca , it i s ne c e s sary t o l ook at

the background of Nati onali sm in thi s c ountry . There are two

apparent ant e c edent movement s whi ch bear s imilarit i e s t o the

Muslims , one polit i cal and the other r eligi ou s . Sydney E .

Ahl strom de s crib e s the s e two influenc e s .

The Univer sal Negr o Improvement As s o c iat i on was

founded by Marcu s Garvey and given the mot to ,

% One Go d % One

Aim % One D e st iny % % The purpo s e of thi s organi zat i on wa s

t o awaken the s elf— e st e em of blacks everywher e and t o re de em

Afri ca for all Afri cans at home and abroad .

2Garvey re crui

t e d numb ers of blacks in Ameri ca from 191 6 t o 1923 . Though

he wa s deport e d in 192 7 be caus e of frauds , Garvey had awaken

e d a s ens e o f Afri can nat i onali sm among blacks in the c it i e s .

The group- c onsc i ousne s s he arou s e d among blacks and the s ens e

o f ali enat i on from the whit e culture showe d the great appeal

0 1a s one of the i r pre cur s ors .

Black Muslims perhaps more dire c tly was th e Mo ori sh S c i ence

T empl e of Ameri ca , founded in 19 13 by Timothy Drew , a North

Carolinian . Drew want ed t o abandon the name % Negro %

, pre fer

ring a name c onnot ing As iat i c origins ,

% Mo ori sh Ameri cans %

or s imply % Mo ors %.

2He t o ok the name Nobl e Prophet Ali Drew ,

lat er be ing call ed s imply Nobl e Drew Ali . Drew publi she d

it e pas sage s , and Drew ' s own int erpretat i ons . The movement

flouri shed b e st in Chi cago , but vi ol enc e came int o the org

anization in 1929 when one of Drew ' s deput i e s was murdered ,

foll owe d not long aft er by Drew hims elf .

Thus the s e two organi zat i ons were de st ined t o wane

in influenc e due t o e ither the death or deportat i on o f the ir

l eader .

The struggl e for a new leader of Black Nat i onali sm

found a challenger in Wallac e D . Fard , who appeare d myster

iously in Detro it in 1 930 , claiming t o b e the r e incarnati on

1Not much i s knownof Drew , and a s omet ime vi s it or t o Me c ca .

about W . D . Fard , lat er call e d W . F . Muhammad .

2He may have

b e en Arab , but in any case he claime d t o b e the incarnat i on

of Allah .

% The Prophet % Fard move d %ui etly within the Black

c ommunity in Detro it a s a p e ddl er , s elling rainc oat s and

s ilks , and o ffering fr e e dom , j u st i c e , and e% uality .

3 Be fore

Fard ' s myst eri ou s di sappearanc e in lat e 1933 or early 193A

he e stabli shed the fir st Templ e of I slam in Detro it with a

membership e st imat e d at eight thousand . Another t empl e wa s

founded in Chi cago with one of hi s mo st trust e d li eut enant s ,

Robert Po ol e ( lat er renamed Eli j ah Muhammad ) , taking charge .

%

1Ibi d .

3

4Ahl strom , pp . 106 7—1068 .

4

shows the att itude of nati onal i sm whi ch i s held by the Muslims

We are a Nati on in a want t o build a nati onthat wil l b e re c ogni z ed as a nat i on , that will b e s elfre spe ct ing and rec e ive re sp e c t of the other nat i ons ofthe must under stand the importanc e of landt o our nati on . The firs t and mo st important rea s on thatthe individual c ountri es of Europe , Afri ca , and A sia arere c ogni z e d a s nati

gns i s b e cau s e they oc cupy a spe ci fi c

area of the earth .

The i dea of nati onali sm i s further expre s s e d in at

l ea st two of the t en propo sit i ons whi ch are print e d in each

i s sue o f the Muslim news a er Muh ad S eaks N b er four

stat e s % We want our pe opl e in Ameri ca , who s e parent s or

grandparent s were de sc endant s from slave s , to be allowe d

1Draper , p . 75 .

2Ibi d .

3Ibi d . , p . 7 6 .

%Ibi d . , pp . 80- 81 .

where el s e ; a third propo sal would be t o take over thre e

or four of the Ameri can stat e s . The fourth i s a sugge st i on

that the Whit e p e opl e in the We st ern Hemi spher e return t o

Europe .

2

The goal s of the Black Muslim movement as define d

by C . Eri c Linc oln in a s e ct i on from hi s b o ok furth er illus

trat e the c onc ept of nat i onali sm whi ch i s a key part of the

organi zat ion are the mo st illus ive part of it s do ctrine ,

Black Men i s one o f the s e purpo s e s . Thi s goal o f Black

Unity will bring t ogether all l evel s of American black

pe opl e . A s e c ond purpo s e i s rac ial s eparati on . The ba s i s

Linc oln , pp . xxvi i-xxvii i .

2Draper , p . 83 .

3Linc oln , pp . 86- 102 .

l eadership among other Black nat i ons of the world .

1Ec on

omio s eparat i on i s a third goal of the Black Muslims . Th e

unity . I f thi s can b e achi eve d then the goal of a Nat i on

within a nat i on will b e real i z e d . In striving for thi s , the

2b e en made for a ho spital and a c ollege in Chi cago . The

Go od Earth and thi s 8 ex r e sse d i n other t erms ab ove .

The s e ideal s l eave littl e doubt that the Nat i on of I sl

Ibid . , pp . 92 - 93 .

Ibi d . , pp . 96-98 .

Thi s l ead s t o the ba si c %ue st i on , what influenc e have

the Bluk Muslims had on Black Nati onali sm in Ameri ca? Thi s

will b e the sub j e c t of the remainder o f thi s paper and I will

deal both with the influenc e on the c ommunity and on c ertain

key individual s .

There i s , of c ours e , the react i on of organi z ed el ement s

Muslims a s having shaken the Negro Chri st ian c ommunity b e

caus e of the ir preaching against ine ff e c tive rel igi on , and

Mr . Lomax says that s inc e Black Muslims pre sent indi s

putable fact s about li fe for th e Black man in Ameri ca , every

po siti on than he would otherwi s e . He c onclude s that the Black

Muslims , repre s ent ing an extreme reac t i on t o the probl em of

being Negro in Ameri ca t oday are a part of the Negro revolt .

( New % ork % Perennial L1

2ibid . , p . 19 1 .

The appeal o f the Muslims ha s b e en t o upwardly mobil e

lower— c la s s Blacks , be caus e of the ir Puritan ethi c ba s ed on a

four—fold program % an explanat ion o f the ir plight (whit e dev

il s ) ; a s ens e o f pride and s elf—e st e em ( black superi ori ty )

a vi si on of a gl ori ous future ( black as c endancy ; and a prao

t ical program of upl ift (working hard , saving money , and unit

ing t o creat e Negro ent erpri s e s and

Thi s support s the i dea s expre s s ed by Linc oln . He says ,

c iting W . E . B . D uBois , that the appeal of any Black Nat i onal

i sm , re st s in th e i dea o f a c ommon suffering , whi ch pro duc e s

a defens ive re spons e t o ext ernal forc e s a re spons e growing

out of the de s ire t o c ons erve cultural value s and t o e s cape

oppre s s ive c ondit i ons .

2He further as s ert s that Black Nat i on

alism finds it s de ep e st ro ot s in the l ower c la s s and it s great

e st strength among the young .

3 Five charact eri st i c s o f the

membership are sugge st ed by Linc oln %

1 . The memb ership i s young . Up t o 80 per c ent of a typi cal c ongregat ion i s b etwe en the age s of s event e en andthirty2 . The memb er ship i s pre dominantly

3 . The m emb ersh i s e s s entially l ower4 . The m emb ersh i s almo st wholly Ameri can - Blackamerica

5 . Finally , the membership i s predominantly ex

The s e i dea s only de s crib e s ome o f the e ff e c t s o f the

movement and are not a guage of the ac tual influenc e in t erms

of numb er s or att itude s . Member ship i s di ffi cult t o a s s e s s

st Me i er and Elli o t t Rudwick , Black Prot e st inthe S ixt i e s Chi cago % %uadrangl e Bo ok s , 1 9 0O ) , p . 13

2Linc oln , p . 47 .

3 Ib i d . , pp . 48- 50 .

%Ibi d . , pp . 24- 28 .

t o indivi dual s and they were ask ed t o rat e them as e% c ell ent

pretty go od % only fair %

, or p o or %. On a plus and minus

s cal e exc ellent % and % pretty go od % were c onsi dere d as b e ing

approving , whil e % only fair and % po or % were di sapproving . In

1963 the Black Muslims were rat e d as 1 1% approving and AA%

di sapproving % in 1966 it was 9% versu s and 1969 it

was 13% t o Only 4% in 1969 rat ed them as exc ell ent .

Malc olm X , a key l eader in the Muslims , until a year-and—a

half be fore hi s death in 1965 was only evaluat e d in 1969 , but

rec eive d 2 7% approving and 35% di sapproving . Thirt e en per c ent

rat ed him exc ell ent . Eli j ah Muhammad , the Muslim l eader

re c eive d 15% approving t o 35% di sapproving in 1963 ; 12% plus

1 Ib id . , p . 241 .

Army Publi c at i on on S e c t s in Ameri ca , prepare d bythe U . S . Army Chaplains S cho o l , dat ed 1 972 .

and 43% minus in 196 6 ; and 22% to A%% in 1969 . Nine per c ent

rat ed him exc ell ent in the 1969 poll .

I t s e ems therefore that Muslims were not very widely

re c eive d among Blacks in Ameri c a during the 1960's ,

but it

appears there may have b een a sl ight trend toward wider rec

eption near the end of the dec ade . Goldman hims elf says that

the poll indi cat e s the Black Muslims % remained fro z en where

o f Negro Ameri can l ife 1

The ext ent of the influenc e of the Black Musl ims can

b e judged al s o , I fe el , by c onsi dering the e ffec t on and of

s ome of i t s well-known memb ers .

There i s Eldri dge Cl eaver . Whil e in pri s on , he b e

viction , and then a follower of Malc olm X .

2Cl eaver frankly

admit s hi s c onvi ct i ons were strongly influenc e d by Eli j ah

Muhammad ' s writ ings for a time , and then lat er by Malc olm X .

He says he felt the real influenc e was not s o much Mal c olm ,

but the truth he spoke , whether it was from a %uaker , a Cath

G ordon Parks in Algi er s , Cl eaver said , We promi s e t o re

plac e rac i sm with rac ial In the c ont ext o f

1Ib i d . , p . 7 1 .

Publi shing % c . , Inc . , p . 10 .

BIbid . pp . 57- 6 6 0

the int ervi ew , I fe el what h e wa s expre s sing i s in line with

the Black Musl im s eparati st po int of V i ew , even though he him

s elf has b e c ome a l eader of the Black Panthers .

A prominent figure among the Black Muslims i s Muhammad

Ali . Gordon Parks t ell s of hi s per sonal c ontact with thi s

the int ervi ew he give s with Ali in hi s b o ok , B orn Black , there

i s no doubt of the genuinene s s of the c onvi ct i on o f Ali in the

t eachings of the Black Muslims . And the fac t he divorc ed hi s

fir st wife b e caus e she refus e d t o abide by the rul e s of the

faith , and hi s much publi c i z e d draft refusal both po int t o the

strong influenc e of the Black Muslim t eachings on hi s l ife .

1

Without a doubt the mo st influenc e d and influential

memb er of the movement b efore hi s exc ommuni cat i on and lat er

a s sa s sinat i on was Malc olm X , born Malc olm Little . Linc oln

2c all s him the % Fir st Pl enipot ent iary % o f the movement . Such

an influenc e di d he have , that even C ongre s sman Adam Clayton

Powell , al s o a Bapti st preacher , i dent ifi e d hims elf t o s ome

degre e with the Musl ims .

3 Malc olm , who wa s hims elf the s on

o f a Bapti st mini st er , was a c onvert from pri s on , a s have b e en

many of the memb er s of the movement . Malc olm wa s the Me s s enger

me s s enger and gave the Muslims a popularity they had not

en j oyed b efore . Mal c olm was suspende d from speaking for a

lIbid . , pp . 65- 8 7 .

2Linc oln , p . 207 .

3Me i er and Rudwick , p . 41 .

ulation of Ameri ca than th

h ere be in its Bla cke s a new day?

y in the here