America's Image of Malcolm X

Spike Lee's film is important because it advances the debate about the image of Malcolm X. It will take some time before it is clear what we should think about him. He had said, in an interview the day before his assassination, that the Black Muslims, whom he thought were pursuing him, needed to shatter his image because it had become too attractive to Black folk in the streets. Spike Lee has begun the painstaking work needed to restore that image. The real test for Lee, in my opinion, was to preserve the complexity of the man, and to allow us to watch him change--made all the more moving by Malcolm's deep personal integrity. We see this evolution clearly, and although it would be an error to argue that Malcolm X become a fully convinced integrationist, it is enough to show that he was open to people of other races and could live with ambiguity. It must have been difficult for Lee to sort through the many versions of Malcolm X and to find the courage to steer a clear course in the midst of criticisms from the left and right. We must remember that other societies and peoples have produced similar figures--social rebels who play a prophetic role and become oracles of their time. It is sometimes difficult to heed their messages.

The film reminded me of my first meeting with Malcolm X in 1960, at the Parker House in down-town Boston. We met to discuss the book by C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Muslims in America, which was just being published by Beacon Press. In the course of our conversation, I asked him why he was so angry--why wasn't he more like Martin Luther King? Malcolm X replied, "If you are sleeping and someone puts his hand in your pocket and is stealing your money (he meant your freedom) and you wake up, what are you going to say? Are you going to say, `Would you please take your hand out of my pocket?'--or--`If you don't get your hand out of my pocket, I'm going to break every bone in your body!'?" He thought it was important to show that anger was a way towards inner emancipation. This emancipation was, in the end, his true achievement.

It is important to acknowledge, in the face of the purists, that the film includes some inaccuracies, but it is, nevertheless, true in spirit. It reminds me of certain Shakespeare plays where ships dock in places where we know there is no harbor, but the drama rings true nonetheless.

I highly recommend the film. It is an intelligent effort to come to grips with our awful racial problems while still leaving us with a sense of hope. Archie C. Epps III is Dean of Students

MALCOLM X The Debate Continues

In recent weeks there has been a great deal of division about "the real Malcolm X." It is important to remember that Malcolm X Spoke at Harvard three times between 1961 and 1965 and that various members of the faculty met, talked with and listened to him. Dean Archie C. Epps III and Professor Roger D. Fisher moderated two of Malcolm X's speeches. Here are their reflections on the man and Spike Lee's of image of him.