Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare by James H. Cone

Author:James H. Cone [Cone, James H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbis Books
Published: 2012-06-07T07:00:00+00:00

And don't stop there. In fact, you won't be able to stop for long—his doormen are going to tell you "Move on!" But catch a subway and keep on downtown. Anywhere you may want to get off, look at the white man's apartments, businesses! Go right on down to the tip of Manhattan Island that this devilish white man stole from the trusting Indians for twenty-four dollars! Look at his City Hall, down there; look at his wall Street! Look at yourself! Look at his God! 34

It was difficult not to be persuaded by Malcolm's penetrating analysis. He was adept at exposing the moral contradictions of Christianity. "You think you are a Christian," he said, "and yet you see your so-called white Christian brother hanging black Christians on trees. You say that the white man loves you and yet he has done every evil act against you whenever he has had the opportunity. The white man has everything while he is living and he tells you to be a good slave and when you die you will have more than he has up in Beulah's Land." "We so-called Negroes,' are in pitiful shape," said Malcolm, as he pointed to the images of self hate in the worship of black Christians. "We have been down on our knees looking up and praying to a picture of a white, blond and blue-eyed Jesus. That proves to you that we have been doing nothing but worshiping the white man and are still doing it. Get up off your knees," he told black Christians. "Come out of the sky!" "Stop . . praying to spirits in the sky." "Build heaven on earth."35

Malcolm contended that religion must not be separated from the whole of life. We should evaluate it by the material benefits it bestows upon those who believe in it. "If religion means a way of life, and life's necessities are food, clothing and shelter, then we should not separate religion from economics," he proclaimed over WLIB, a Harlem radio station. "Christianity," he continued, "offers Negroes its economic pro-gram of milk and honey (food), white robes, golden slippers (clothing), and mansions (shelter) up in the sky after they die, ...whereas Mr. Elijah Muhammad teaches us that in Islam we can get all of life's necessities right here on earth in this life if we will awaken, unite, and put forth the necessary effort."36

According to Malcolm, Christianity and Islam are radical opposites. Christianity is white nationalism; Islam is black nationalism. Christianity enslaves blacks; Islam liberates them. Christianity divides blacks; Islam unites them. Christianity "teaches that black is a curse"; Islam teaches that "it is a blessing to be black." Christianity urges blacks to love whites and to be nonviolent toward them. Islam encourages blacks to love themselves, turn the other cheek toward each other, but to defend them-selves against the violence of their enemies. Christianity teaches that "hell [is] down in the ground to which we go after we die." Islam teaches that "hell is right here in North America.

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