Baldwin's view of Nation of Islam in Down on the Cross Essay

“I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of ‘somebodiness’ that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible ‘devil’”.

Along with denouncing any religion other than Islam, they denounce anyone that is not African American. This is the second reason that the movement was unacceptable. The Nation of Islam used the teachings of Timothy Drew from the Temple of Science (Source 3). Drew preached that African Americans were the superior race. He especially focused on their superiority over the Caucasians. Drew also preached that the Caucasians were doomed because Jesus was “a black man who attempted to redeem the Black Moabites, only to be executed by the white Romans” (Source 3). These teachings influenced the Nation of Islam greatly and lead to their belief in African American superiority. It is important for African Americans to feel a sense of pride, however, that should not lead one to believe that they are better than others based off of their skin tone. This prejudice leads to discrimination of other based on skin color. Instead of falling

The text continues with Baldwin warning his nephew about the struggle he is going to endure for just being born black and nothing else. Also telling him that he must survive for his children and his children’s children. He warns him, telling him that this country will set him up for failure and that they will try to control where he could go, what he could do, and how he could do it. He continues to articulate that he must stay true to himself because no matter how much he tries to resemble white people they will never accept him. He later states how corrupt the white mind is, for example, he says, “They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for so many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they

The first essay is about James Baldwin's personal perspective of being black in racist America. The second essay goes on to how religion and Christianity allowed the segregation and oppression of blacks to grow between both whites and blacks of the United States (Baldwin, 1963). Christianity in the United States can be easily be compared to the opiate of the masses. Religion controlled the lives of the whites and forced the blacks to live under the oppressive rule of the whites.

An article in the New York Times newspaper depicted this problem in which it talked about the merged labor movement, which is a part of NAACP, not stopping widespread segregation and discrimination in unions. (Union Aides Rebut) The method of using the American legal system also has much irony within it based on the fact that it is partially at fault for separating the races, and is controlled by people who did it. The NAACP even with flaws seen by Baldwin, do not believe that all Whites are evil and this can be seen in how they’re a part of NAACP’s infrastructure. This point is were Baldwin confers with them on the fact that they should be creating a nation where Blacks and Whites are equal because “[Baldwin] did not care if White and Black people married” (Baldwin 327). From this point one can interpret the fact that Baldwin agrees with the overall goal of the NAACP to unify the two races. This future they look for is what he wants and sits well with Baldwin even though their methods are slow.

Baldwin opens his argument acknowledging the distortion of segregation for the segregationists. According to Baldwin, people who, since birth, have been taught to think a certain way towards the African American race. “The white South African or Mississippi sharecropper or Alabama sheriff has at bottom a system of reality which compels them really to believe when they face the Negro that this

The religious beliefs of both the Black Panther and the Nation of Islam want people to know that they will believe to what they want. “ The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives a man a right to be tried by his peer group. A peer is a person from a similar economic, social, religious, geographical, environmental, historical and racial background.” (Black power) They used the 14th Amendment just to get their word out and tried to make their peer agreed with them. Their religious way was not the same with other people but, they want them to know that it does not have to be. The way the Black panther and the Nation of Islam fought for African American is a way that have to listen.

When I was initially asked what I would want to learn about relating to Baldwin, I was instantly drawn to the Black Muslim Movement. I did not have a specific question, so I began broad by asking whether or not Muslims had always believed in the destruction of the white race, or if this belief had developed over years and years of discrimination. My question changed when our class participated in our first research session at the library. With the help of Amanda, one of the librarians, I found an Encyclopedia of religions. When I found the section on Muslims, it contained information on multiple branches of the Muslim faith, and a long historical background for each branch. In that moment,

The rise of the concept of the Nation of Islam gave birth to the concept of a separate, ‘blacks only’ state, which clearly undermines the work of Martin Luther King to bring about inclusion and equality of rights and freedoms for African Americans. In addition, there was an ideological split towards the use of

Rather than pushing both races to blur the line between whites and blacks, the religion seems to further distinguish this line. Baldwin gives a compelling reason for stating that Americans must separate themselves from Christianity in order to progress into a world where everyone can live free. The Christian religion keeps its members in a prison of blind faith. While the blacks lack freedom because of society's treatment of them, whites lack freedom in their blind following of the belief that they possess superiority over blacks because of skin color. Despite the initial comfort that religion wrapped around Baldwin, he saw its hypocrisy that ensnared the other members and continued the long chain of hate among Americans of every color. Americans’ interpretation of the message of Christianity may lead them to judge others, but Baldwin takes the true message of love and applies it to his plea to have hope. Baldwin states that he and believers like him will “force [their] brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and being to change it” (8). In opening their hearts to the Christian commandment to love one another and applying it to their actions, Americans will be able to save themselves from drowning in a flood of their judgments and bring peace to the

The Nation of Islam is a subsection of the Islamic religion which aims to enlighten and engage Black Americans, in hopes of freeing them from the oppression of their white counterparts. Though the NOI make efforts to uplift Black people and teach respect for all people, it is often contemplated whether or not the organization has pure intentions at its core. This can be due to the fact that there have been leaders of the organization that teach ideologies that are those of hate, which goes against what the NOI teaches as a whole. One such leader is Louis Farrakhan, the chief spokesman of the Nation of Islam. An article revolving around Farrakhan’s recent activities were the topics of the article I chose to present for my Religion in the News

Although today’s American Muslim, unless he or she is racially black, doesn’t face double-consciousness through the lens of Du Bois for the African American, we do face the same form of confusion and struggle to be less of ourselves and more of what needs to be seen. Even when what most of us are in reality isn’t harmful.

Often an internet search on “Black Nationalism” will yield results addressing topics like Gaveyism, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement. Images related to the search will show mostly black and white pictures of well-known figures and symbols such as the Black Panther Party and the symbol of a raised black fist fill the screen. If one adds the word “Today” to that search, new results featuring article titles like “Will Black Nationalism Reemerge,” or “Where is Black Nationalism Today” appear. Regardless of the views shared by many people, Black Nationalism is still around in the minds of many blacks. Today it leans more towards cultural nationalism. Cultural nationalism, then and now, does not affect the status quo. The goal of Revolutionary nationalists is to reform or overthrow the status quo. The government will seek to wipe out anything that might threaten itself and the society it governs. It will not seek to wipe out cultural

As we get farther into the book, I become more intrigued into the events that took place in America in regards to Islam. I never actually knew the broader history behind the enlargement of Islam in the United States. The formation of different Islamic organizations post World War II was very interesting, because it created a society where Muslim immigrants can unite; such as the Nation of Islam and the FIA. I found that the sociological, and political aspects of these religion-based communities and organizations were very relevant to the issues that many Muslims had to deal with. However, some of the organization’s teachings and actions seemed questionable. Also, the book is very difficult to understand as it gets very in depth with fact after fact but not much background information, which makes it hard to follow the points that author, Kambiz GhaneaBassiri is trying to get across. That being said, I would like to focus on the chapter 6 readings, and the author’s style of writing.

• Black: black people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the