Toward the end of his “Autobiography” (written by Alex Haley), Malcolm X wrote: “The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities — he is only reacting to 400 years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the wall and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth — the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.”

Malcolm and the Civil Rights Movement 4 of 4

Although they only met once, Malcolm X was often asked his opinion of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Initially scornful of King and his strategies, Malcolm later began to recognize the worth of -- and even began tentative participation in -- the movement.

Same Problem, Different Directions
Near the end of his life, Malcolm X publicly recognized that "Dr. King wants the same thing I want -- freedom!" But for most of his ministry he did not identify with King and the civil rights movement. Although both Black Muslims and King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference had the same general goals of defeating white racism and empowering African Americans, Malcolm and King had different tended to speak at different venues (street corners vs. churches) and had different aims. Malcolm, who would publicly deny that he was even an American, worked for a Nation of Islam that sought to create a separate society for its members. Malcolm rejected integration with white America as a worthwhile aim (deriding it as "coffee with a cracker") and particularly opposed non-violence as a means of attaining it. "That's what you mean by non-violent," he said, "be defenseless." In Malcolm's mind, the African