8 – His Anti-White Stance Softened Over Time
While he was a member of the Nation of Islam in the 1950s, Malcolm had little time for so-called mainstream civil rights leaders. In fact, he derided them as ‘Uncle Toms’ and was exasperated at their inability to realize that white America would never willingly allow equality. He was completely against integration throughout the majority of his career as he believed it was an impossible goal. Malcolm reminded his listeners that there was little difference in the situation for blacks in the North and South of the United States. He was annoyed that civil rights activists focused on helping blacks in the South while ignoring those in the North.
By the beginning of the 1960s however, Malcolm X’s hatred of whites began to dissipate slightly. While he once believed that all whites were devils, he began to think they could be cleared of responsibility if they acted in the right way. Instead of continuing to blame the whites as a collective, or even as individuals, he believed the fault lay in the very structure of society. When he started to preach on college campuses, he was surprised at the lack of hostility he faced. Malcolm began to realize that some educated whites also wanted to solve the race inequality problem.
Nonetheless, he was still opposed to integration as late as April 1964. Malcolm referred the March on Washington as the ‘Farce on Washington’. He wrote the following: “Who ever heard of angry revolutionists all harmonizing ‘We Shall Overcome’… while tripping and swaying along arm-in-arm with the very people they are supposed to be angrily revolting against?” Yet he wanted to meet with civil rights leaders at that time, despite Elijah Muhammad’s protests. After the NOI leader forbade him from meeting with these individuals, Malcolm left the organization and began reaching out to activists.
He famously met Martin Luther King Jr. for the only time on March 26, 1964. The two men had a brief exchange and remained together just long enough for photos to be taken. While he no longer viewed all whites as the enemy, he retained his belief that violence may be necessary in the struggle. In his The Ballot or the Bullet speech in April 1964, he told African-Americans that if the U.S. Government continued to prevent them from gaining full equality, they might have to take up arms.
1964 was a busy year for Malcolm as first, he made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The journey, known as the Hajj, must be undertaken at least once in the lifetime of every able-bodied Muslim. After leaving Mecca, he visited several African countries and then made speeches in France and the United Kingdom. When he returned to the United States in February 1965, he played down his willingness to cooperate with whites in America. According to Malcolm, racism was so deeply ingrained in most white Americans that it had become a ‘subconscious trait’. Although he was gaining international recognition, his bitter split from the Nation of Islam came back to haunt him.