My Turn

In Cassell's essay "Malcolm X and A Little Blonde Co-ed," the historian writes that this moment was one Malcolm X would later deeply regret, writing in his autobiography that, "I'd never seen anyone I ever spoke to before more affected than this little white Graduate student / School of Social Work

Although few people would call Malcolm X a conservative, he was probably more of a reactionary than a radical. As Spike Lee displays in the film "X," a young white woman once approached him and asked, "Don't you think that any white people are good?" Malcolm answered, "Peoples' deeds I believe in, and not their words." She then exclaimed, "What can I do?" To which Malcolm X responded, "Nothing!"

As University of New Mexico professor Kevin Cassell points out, "It is unfortunate that Spike Lee didn't, or couldn't, represent the full impact the incident that inspired this shot had on Malcolm X." In that instant, Malcolm revealed his self-reliance and black conservatism. Yetgirl."

So greatly did this speech affect the young woman, Cassell writes, that she actually flew to New York and tracked him down inside a Muslim restaurant he frequented in Harlem.

Many people discuss Malcolm X's fiery rhetoric and quote him only for his famous "by any means necessary" statement, but this Black History Month I would like to remind people that he was a much more complex individual.

The reason for Malcolm's reaction was probably due to his distrust of the true intentions of so-called white friends. As Malcolm X once said, "There can be no black-white unity until there is first some black unity... We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves." The black liberal W.E.B. DuBois also stated his disappointment in white liberalism: "The Negro has nothing but friends and God help us from most of them for they are likely to lynch our souls."

Similarly, today the Democratic Party seems ready to drop the Negro after the election is over. However, although blacks may question white liberal's true intentions, they cannot ignore that there were whites walking with blacks during the civil rights movement. Malcolm X explained in his autobiography how he regretted what he said to that white student: "Well, I've lived to regret that incident. In many parts of the African continent I saw white students helping black people. Something like this kills a lot of argument... I guess a man's entitled to make a fool of him self if he's ready to pay the cost. It cost me twelve years."

Malcolm X's sentiments prove that Black Nationalism may be conservative in its acceptance of white help. After his enlightenment in his pilgrimage to Mecca, his eyes were open to the fact that not all whites are the same. Perhaps, some of Malcolm X's conservatism comes from the fact that it has been difficult to know when white friends are sincere in their commitment to the problems of blacks.

Many have characterized the Civil Rights Movement as a triumph of the Democratic Party. However, the 1964 Civil Rights Act was one supported by 80 percent of Republicans and only 64 percent of Democrats. It was the Southern Democrats, or Dixiecrats, who almost derailed President Lyndon Johnson's nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, given the history of the Democratic Party and Malcolm X's philosophy, it is conceivable that black conservatism is very black. Additionally, given this country's history of racism, it's understandable why blacks may doubt some so-called white friends and their intentions. However, what Black History Month and history in general often miss is that even Malcolm X regretted his criticism for whites who are sincere in promoting black progress.

I end with some words from Malcolm X's autobiography: "I regret that I told her she could do 'nothing.' I wish now that I knew her name, or where I could telephone her, and tell her what I tell white people now when they present themselves as being sincere, and ask me, one way or another, the same thing that she asked."

My Turn is an open column/personal essay that runs twice a month. Submissions can be sent to spectrum-eic@buffalo.edu.