Epps Speaks on Malcom X

Approximately 100 people turned out at the Hillel last night to listen to Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III discuss 1960s civil rights activist Malcolm X, the man who once called himself "the angriest Black man in America."

Epps, who has published a book on a series of speeches given at Harvard by Malcolm X in 1964, said that while most people equate the civil right movement of the 1960's with the teachings of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X was "an important voice in that time."

Malcolm X "could not accept Martin Luther King's strategy of what he called 'passive neutrality," Epps said. But Malcolm X's voice can help us understand the significance of a civil rights movement with a philosophy distinct from King's, he said.

Epps said Malcolm X frightened and puzzled many people with his ominous talk of "no longer turning the other cheek," and with his belief that the white and black races were at war, Epps said.

Epps, who was recently named coordinator of race relations, attributed the resurgence of interest in Malcolm X's teachings to a number of factors. There are substantial amounts of "unfinished business" from the civil rights movement of the 1960's because for the most part, he said, it only aided middle and upper-middle class Blacks.

The intellectual pursuit of the roots of the black nationalist movement has also brought Malcolm X back to the public eye, the dean said. Epps said commercialization also played a role in the resurgence. In addition, rap groups, which Epps called "the successors to the radicals of the period," have recently been romanticizing the teachings of Malcolm X.

Epps predicted that Spike Lee's upcoming film about the civil rights leader will inspire a "big debate."

"The question is not whether it's entirely factual," Epps said. "The question is whether it's true in some larger sense."

Addressing the future of race relations, Epps stressed the importance of regular dialogue and communication at all times, not just in times of crisis.

"When you look at race questions, you are often looking through a window at how institutions function or fail to function," Epps said. Harvard and Redcliffe are places where we can take the "high points" of each civilization and become broader and better people, he said.