Black Muslim Leader Urges U.S. Negroes To Return to Africa

Louis X, the leader of Boston's Black Muslims, told the Quincy House Africa Table last night that U.S. race problems could best be solved by returning the "so-called Negroes" to Africa.

He said the Muslims have had "encouraging" negotiations on resettlement with African governments. But he said his group would sponsor no mass emmigration of American Negroes until "we have brought the truth to all 22 million black men in this country."

If emmigration could not be arranged, Louis X proposed that the American government "set aside some territory where we could go and set up our own government." But he preferred going back to Africa.

Louis X feared, however, that the American government "would not want us to go" even though resettlement of Negroes in Africa was proposed by Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay, and Stephen Douglas. "The government is luring the Negro by the hypocritical trick of integration," he declared.

White Americans, he said, "don't really want black people in their midst. You move out of the neighborhood when we come in. You don't want to be with our women. And I don't blame you. I certainly don't want you with my women."

Pointing to his light brown skin, Louis X said, "We've been rubbed at and rubbed at for too long. I love black. I love black. And I want black to stay black."

"I've seen too much hell here," he continued, "and I couldn't integrate into hell."

Despite his vehement speech, the young Muslim leader grinned frequently and said several times that he did not hate whites. But he added, "All white people basically think the same. In the South they always show wolf's teeth. In the North they are more foxy but they have the same teeth. Finding a white who sincerely wants integration is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I once found an honest white man and I was willing to go around the block with him--but no farther."