9781422277799

In July 1964, the shooting of a black youth by a New York City policeman touched off demonstrations in which marchers carried posters of the culpable officer and chanted, “We want justice!” These protests soon exploded into a massive riot in the black ghettos in Harlem and Brooklyn.

of Islam, unlike the version that the Nation of Islampreached in its mosques. While visiting the Middle East, he saw Muslims of many different races sharing a commonbondof friend- ship. Deeply affected by what he witnessed on his travels, he told the press, “I have become convinced that some whites do want to help cure the rampant racism which is on the path to destroying this country.” Malcolm X left the interview knowing

that despite having spoken of the urgent need for an improvement in race relations, the headlines in the morning papers would most likely proclaim: MALCOLM X ADVO- CATES ARMED NEGROES! He had already grown accustomed to having inaccurate stories printed about him. So long as he urged blacks to resist racial oppression “by any means necessary,” he would continue to carry with him a reputation as the one person who could either start or stop a race riot. “I don’t know if I could start one,” he said, but “I don’t know if I’d want to stop one.” It is not that he hoped to see a wave of destructive violence sweep through America, but he believed something must be done to jolt his countrymen into understanding that the black

CH A P T E R 1 : T H E C I T I E S A R E B u R N I NG

1 3