TRIBUTE TO MALCOLM X
[The following statement on the death of Malcolm X was issued March 12 by the United Secretariat of the Fourth International, the world party of socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky. ]
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The death of Malcolm X, who was assassinated at what might have been the beginning of his real life's work, was a grievous blow to the freedom movement in the United States and to the cause of the oppressed in all lands.
In the politics of the United States, he epitomized first of all the speed with which a revolutionary trend can develop from-seemingly the most unpromising beginnings. It was not the fault of Malcolm X that he entered manhood as one of America's delinquent youth. Like countless others he was denied equality of opportunity; and, not knowing any better, he responded in a primitive way. That he could emerge from such a background to become one of the country's outstanding radical figures in but a few short years tells much about the tempo of American politics and the swiftness with which revolutionary tendencies can evolve, once they appear, in this politically backward heartland of the world capitalist system.
The role of the Black Muslim movement in Malcolm X's development is to be noted. His break from Christianity was progressive; the Black Muslim movement helped him, as it-has helped many others, to gain self-respect, to find a feeling of identity, to achieve human dignity. The negative side of the Black Muslim movement -- its tendency to withdraw to the side lines, to stop short of participation in the great civil-rights and political struggles of our times, to refuse to collaborate with other forces in seeking common aims, to reject science, to throw up a bureaucracy and to freeze in a conservative mold -- did not prove to be an insuperable barrier to Malcolm: X's further development. His was not an exceptional case; he pointed the way for a trend that can become of great importance in a relatively short time. .
- Malcolm X epitomized above all the inherent militancy of the
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American working people. Although at this stage his movement is not nearly comparable in size to the "nonviolent"™ movement headed by such figures as the Rev. Martin Luther King, it is far more typically American. Ghandism is exotic in the United States and is not destined to hold the center of the stage for long. The militant tendency represented by Malcolm X is certain to move to the forefront. The reason is clear enough. The extraordinary pattern of violence in the United States stems from the methods long traditional to the ruling capitalist class and its Bourbon allies in the South. The American workers have had such schooling in this that it has become a virtual reflex with them to respond with appropriate defensive measures, None of them can long be restrained by sermons about the virtues of sheep-like forbearance and repeated turning of the other cheek,
The need for adequate defensive measures to meet the murderous violence of the racists was the central point reached by Malcolm X in his thinking; he advocated it with growing understanding of its meaning and ramifications. He thus gave voice to a fundamental principle on which the American working class stands; and must be counted as one of the forerunners in its development on a huge scale in the class struggle in the United States. Had he been permitted to live, he would most certainly have become one of the leaders in organizing this method of protecting and advancing the freedom movement.
As a defender and tribune of the Negro people, whom he sought to arouse to a higher level of consciousness, Malcolm X had to cope day in and day out with the world of white oppressors. Here the development of his thinking was particularly marked. Among the whites he came to distinguish the "power structure" as the main source of evil. Toward the last he had distinguished a most important new feature -- the "capitalist" power structure.
This faced him with a key problem. If the white capitalist power structure must give way so that a better world can be built, with what should it be replaced?
Malcolm X's thinking turned toward socialism. How far he would have gone, it of course cannot be said. He was murdered before this phase of his development had been completed. This turn, however, was perfectly logical. First of all, it is an inherent tendency in the very class structure of the United States, It is not difficult for American workers, when they begin to think politically, to come almost directly to socialist conclusions. Moreover, despite the years of McCarthyism and prosperity, a native socialist current, tracing its origin back to Debs and before, remains not far below the surface. Secondly, the existence of the Soviet Union, of China and the other workers states exercises an influence despite the torrents of hate-propaganda poured in their direction and despite the real flaws and evils observable in those countries. The Cuban Revolution in particular, with its thoroughgoing destruction of discrimination, has had an influence among those layers of the working people in the United States who are the most direct victims of racism and all
that goes with it. Thirdly, the strong tendency among the new African states to move in a socialist direction and to speak for socialism has had increasing impact among the blacks in the United States.
All these things attracted and stimulated the mind of Malcolm X. In this again, he epitomized a tendency among the working people of the United States, especially the blacks, that has been growing visibly stronger alongside the rise of the civil-rights struggle and the Freedom Now movement,
One more influence upon Malcolm X should be mentioned. This was the patient and persistent work of the American followers of Leon Trotsky organized in the Socialist Workers party. Their contribution in the struggle for Negro equality stems directly from theoretical insights provided by Leon Trotsky and elaborated over the decades in the light of lessons learned in the struggle itself. Their theory held open the possible development of a movement such as the one represented by the Black Muslims long before it appeared, When it showed up on the scene, they proved capable of recognizing it, of seeing its positive side and some of the possibilities in its further evolution. They became one of the first forces in the country to rally in vigorous defense of this much persecuted and much misunderstood movement.
This was noted, particularly by Malcolm X. His appreciation of the Socialist Workers party and the American Trotskyist paper, The Militant, is a matter of record. What this really represented, however, was the tremendous progress he had made from an empirical, almost instinctive, reaction to the various loathesome sides of American class society to a consistent theoretical grasp of it as a whole. To Malcolm X, the American Trotskyist movement represented the most attractive features of socialist thought and action.
This trend in the thinking of Malcolm X was underlined by his increasing appreciation of the international side of the fierce daily struggle he was engaged in. As was to be expected, this appreciation came primarily through the Afro-American linkage. Behind the vision of an attractive African homeland, which is widely current among the blacks of the United States, lies something very real -- the need for international solidarity and backing in their struggle for full citizenship inside the United States. The tremendous advances of the colonial revolution throughout the continent of Africa, particularly dramatized by the victory in Algeria, have stirred, encouraged and inspired the Negro people as a whole in the United States, It is one of the sources of the rise in their spirit of militancy and the increasing energy of their involvement in the civil-rights movement,
Malcolm X felt this in a most intimate way and he set out to consciously develop ties with the African revolution, making an ex~ tended trip there one of the means of doing this. Seeking help in Africa for the black movement in the United States, he had to. explain - this movement and its aims to its politically more advanced natural
allies there. In the process he himself gained in understanding. During this trip he learned a profound truth -- that the general needs of a revolutionary struggle really do transcend color, that the oppressed, both black and white, have something in common, both in the foe they face and the goals they seek. For the most effective struggle, they must unite and pool their resources and efforts.
But such practical internationalism, however limited it may have been for the moment in specific projects, must be recognized as closely related to the general socialist outlook. By another road, Malcolm X was coming to revolutionary socialism when he was shot down,
Obviously there were many reactionary forces who stood to gain by silencing the voice of Malcolm X. He knew that he was a marked man. Several attempts were made on his life. Malcolm X had achieved such firmness of character that he rose above whatever fear or despondency he may have felt. His first concern was what might happen to his family. To the public he maintained to the last the image that best expressed his inner being -- the fighting, eloquent defender of a just cause. He had barely begun speaking before another audience in New York when the assassins struck.
Who stood behind these miserable tools? Malcolm X felt that the plot was directed from within the Black Muslims from whom he had split. But there were other forces, most sinister forces, interested in seeing this "agitator and troublemaker" -out of the way. It is not excluded that provocateurs were at work, Within hours after Malcolm's death, an enormous concerted campaign was underway in the. press, radio and television, attempting to sharpen the differences between the Organization of Afro-American Unity headed by Malcolm X and the Black Muslims from whom he had split. A Black Muslim Mosque in Harlem was burned. ..
If the enemies of both groups hoped for a fratricidal war, such as has brought deadly injury to similar movements in other countries, they were disappointed by the stand taken by James Shabazz, the personal secretary of Malcolm X. In an interview granted to The Militant, he scored the allegations that the followers of Malcolm X_ seek vengeance for the death of their leader. Instead, he appealed for unity among Afro-Americans and other peonles of African descent, and a closing of ranks against the common enemy.
This is an absolutely correct stand, a stand favored by Malcolm X himself as revealed in the tape recording of a speech he gave shortly before he was assassinated.
The death of Malcolm X, like the death of Patrice Lumumba, is an enormous loss to his own people and to the international socialist movement. But it is clear that his development was not something purely personal, although it was hastened and made easier by his great talents and his courageous readiness to recognize limitations
in his own outlook as he came to see things more clearly and profoundly. The development of Malcolm X foreshadows the development of mil~ lions in the United States cast in his image. He will be remembered . in the coming American revolution not. only as a martyr but as a trail blazer,
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