Malcolm X_ A Life of Reinvention - Manning Marable [118]
Identifying himself only as “a Muslim,” he demanded to know on “what do you base your charge that the Black Muslims are racists and black supremacists?ʺ Schlesinger cited a recent article by the black journalist William Worthy. “But, sir, how can a man of your intelligence, a professor of history, who knows the value of thorough research, come here from Harvard and attack the Black Muslims, basing your conclusions on one small article?” Schlesinger asked if Malcolm had read Worthy’s article. Malcolm acknowledged that he had read it but noted that the article, which had quoted Schlesinger, did not attack the NOI as racist, but instead had focused on the negative conditions all blacks endured that had produced the Nation. The mostly black audience favored Malcolm’s arguments, but Schlesinger still insisted that the white racists and the “Black Muslims are two sides of the same coin.” He had no way of knowing how right he was, given Malcolm’s upcoming détente with the Klan. The black press, however, judged the confrontation between the Kennedy adviser and the NOI minister as a clear-cut victory for Malcolm. The Pittsburgh Courier declared that “the fiery Mr. X victoriously crossed swords” with Schlesinger, forcing the Harvard historian “into a ʹdiplomatic withdrawal’ of his earlier statement.” The February 4, 1961, issue of the New Jersey Herald also covered the debate with the headline “Muslims Give the JFK Man a Fit.” The informal debate with Schlesinger reinforced Malcolm’s belief that the Nation had to confront its critics. And there was no better venue for such confrontations than American universities.
During the next five months, he planned appearances at a series of colleges. Within the Nation, he explained that his purpose was to present the views of Elijah Muhammad and to challenge distortions about their religion. In fact, his objectives were to turn upside down the standard racial dialectic of black subordination and white supremacy, and to show off his rhetorical skill at the expense of white authorities and Negro integrationists. He had become convinced that the Nation’s elders were making a big mistake in shying away from public confrontations. The NOI’s survival depended on its ability to answer its critics, to divide white opinion about the group, and to win over converts.
Nowhere in the academic world was Malcolm’s and the NOIʹs divisiveness within the black community more prominently on display than at Howard University, the historically black college in Washington, D.C. The Howard campus chapter of the NAACP invited Malcolm to speak on February 14, 1961, as part of Negro History Week, a tradition established by the historian Carter G. Woodson and which would later be expanded into Black History Month. Though the national organization still found Malcolm too hot to touch, his growing reputation as a militant appealed to the NAACPʹs younger members, who increasingly sought him out for debates and speeches despite the reticence of the old guard. The invitation by Howard students rattled the school’s administrators, almost all of whom were staunch integrationists and who could little afford to have the university’s federal funding threatened by appearing to embrace the Nation of Islam’s most prominent spokesman. When the student group failed to clear approval with the student activities office, the lecture had to be canceled. Undaunted, the NAACP chapter then secured the use of