Monday is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Malcolm X, a civil rights activist, minister and spokesman for the Nation of Islam. He was loved and respected by many but feared and hated by many others because of his early fiery speeches against both racism and non-violent protests.
Opposition was strong on April 18, 1963, when Malcolm X held a debate on racial integration with civil rights leader and attorney Floyd McKissick in Durham. WFAE鈥檚 Gwendolyn Glenn discusses the debate with his son, Floyd McKissick Jr.
Gwendolyn Glenn: Malcolm X was one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement but his advocacy for Black nationalism and leadership in the Nation of Islam attracted controversy in most places where he traveled. Durham was no different. He traveled to Durham to debate attorney Floyd McKissick about integration. McKissick represented the NAACP and the Nation of Islam in court cases and according to his son, former state Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr., he welcomed the opportunity to debate Malcolm. Although 11 years old at the time, McKissick Jr. says he knew the debate was important.
Floyd McKissick Jr.: I was very aware of the Civil Rights Movement. I mean it was taking place in our home every day. People like Roy Wilkins, of the NAACP, that would come to town and stay in our home at that time frame, or James Farmer with CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality. And so, I mean, I was aware of who Malcolm X was and the significance of him coming to Durham at that time.
Glenn: What did your father think about Malcolm at that time and did they know each other well before this debate?
McKissick: They knew each other before the debate. I don't know how well. I could tell by their rapport that it was a friendly, warm rapport. And I remember being at my father's law office that afternoon when they had a press conference and Malcolm was there. And I think they had somewhat different ideologies about the Civil Rights Movement at that time when that debate took place.
Glenn: Tell me about the controversy and what the city was like when it was announced that he was coming.
McKissick: There was controversy over whether he would come and try to incite violence. Controversy about where this debate would take place, whether it would take place over at North Carolina Central University鈥檚 campus. They did not want to have the event there. Then they were talking about holding at W.D. Hill [Recreation] Center in Durham on Federal Street, which is in the heart of the Black community. But that was a city-owned property and there was controversy about whether it should be held at that venue as well.
So, I mean, I can remember being around when they were still trying to find that venue that afternoon, even when this press conference was being held. I mean, they were coming up with a tentative location for it and it ended up being this taxicab stand in Durham and what was then called Pine Street. It's called South Roxboro Street today. It was kind of a walk-up auditorium that probably could hold about 100 people or more. As I recall, the Black Muslims, as they were referred to in that period, would have some of their meetings and events in that location and in that venue.
Glenn: So, there was a sizable Muslim community in Durham at that time.
McKissick: You know, they were active and engaged in the Civil Rights Movement and in the protests that were taking place in Durham. It was not separated by philosophies. You had people of all religions coming together.
Glenn: What do you remember about that debate?
McKissick: My father was concerned about integration at that time and getting African Americans into the schools and making certain that the barriers of discrimination were torn down to public accommodations. And what I remember from the discussions that night, Malcolm was concerned that with Blacks integrated into the public schools, public accommodations, all these things, they might become assimilated into like white culture and adopt white cultural identities and kind of lose their identity in the process. My father felt like 'separate, but equal' was not a good thing and had not worked. He did not feel African Americans would lose their identity and be assimilated into white culture, that you could integrate these public facilities without losing your cultural identity. That's what tended to be the greatest thing that separated their ideologies. The thing where my dad and Malcolm all came together was supporting Black entrepreneurship and Black businesses and Black enterprises.
Glenn: Now the debate did happen and there were over 100 people who were there. Wasn't there another event held the next day with Malcolm X?
McKissick: It was held over in Chapel Hill. Now I did not attend that event, so I'm not as much aware of what occurred in Chapel Hill, except to know that that there was the event in Chapel Hill the next day.
Glenn: Tell me, having met Malcolm X and having seen this debate between him and your father, what kind of effect did that have on you in later years in your life?
McKissick: Well, I think I was heavily influenced by all of the Civil Rights Movement leaders that I met. Malcolm would have been among them. I didn't spend as much time with Malcolm as I did with other leaders, but I was fascinated with his ideology. I was curious about him and would read about him, and I was very saddened when he was assassinated. You know, he got assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom up in New York and within three months of that time, we had moved to New York City ourselves. So, I passed by that Audubon Ballroom almost every day, and to think back about him being shot there was something that I found relatively shocking and disturbing. Something that makes you think particularly because about that time, there was a book released called the "Autobiography of Malcolm X," and he predicted that he would not be around by the time that book was published. And you know what? He wasn't.
Glenn: Millions of copies of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," written by Alex Haley have been sold worldwide. It was published eight months after Malcolm鈥檚 assassination.
What are your thoughts as the 100th anniversary of his birth is being celebrated worldwide? What are your thoughts about Malcolm X? And what do you think he would think in terms of, his thoughts about assimilation, integration and what was lost during the integration process?
McKissick: I think the important thing is to think about Malcolm and his contributions to political dialogue, ideologies that he articulated, the philosophies that he shared. I think in terms of Black entrepreneurship, Black enterprise 鈥� those are still important, significant issues today. I think one of the things that was lost as a result of racial integration, a lot of Black businesses died. A lot of those businesses that were thriving in that period that catered to a Black consumer and the Black individuals overall did not survive the Civil Rights Movement, unfortunately. And in Durham, you had as a result of redevelopment and what occurred here as a result of urban renewal, the whole Black business district was destroyed and it never came back. It was never replaced.
At the same time, I think that the idea and the threats of integration were probably articulations that he made that never came to pass. Blacks have, for the most part, continued to have their own separate, unique identity that has continued to evolve through this period of racial integration and through this period of desegregation.
Blacks still don't have the same rights as whites in America today. I see the hands of time being reversed with policies that have been articulated by the Trump administration. As African Americans, we have to recover from that, we have to be vigilant, we have to get involved. And we need to restore ourselves to the tactics that we used during the Civil Rights Movement to continue those gains and to reverse the policies that are in place today that are causing us to lose our rights.
Glenn: A year after the Durham debate, Malcolm X traveled to Mecca and after seeing Muslims of all races, he toned down his rhetoric for Black separatism. He reached out to other civil rights leaders in the struggle for justice and equality, before he was killed in 1965.
