(applause)
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful
to whom all praise is due,
whom we forever thank for giving us the honorable Elijah Mohammad
as our leader, teacher, and guide.
And I specifically, ladies and gentleman, and brothers and sisters,
open up like that because I am a representative
of the honorable Elijah Mohammad.
And were it not for him, you and wouldn't be here today.
In order for you and me to devise some kind of method or strategy
to offset some of the events or the repetition of the events
that have taken place here in Los Angelas recently,
we have to the root. We have to go to the cause.
Dealing with the condition itself is not enough.
- We have to get to the cause of it all. - (crowd concurs)
Or the root of it all.
And it is because of our effort toward getting straight to the root
that people often think we're dealing in hate.
But first I would like to congratulate and give praise to the negro,
so-called negro leaders and so-called negro organizations
and, excuse me if I say so, it's hard for me to just outright say negro
- when I know what that word really means. - (thunderous applause)
The person whom you have come to know as Ronald Stokes,
we know him as brother Ron.
One of the most religious persons to display the highest form of morals
of any black person anywhere on this Earth.
And as one of the previous speakers pointed out, who knew him,
everyone who knew him had to give him credit for being a good man.
A clean man, an intelligent man, and an innocent man
when he was murdered.
The negro, so-called negro, organizations and leaders should be given
great credit for their failure or refusal to let the white man divide them
and use them, one against the other during this crisis.
(thunderous applause)
As Reverend [Walkard] Wilson pointed out, I think it was eight years ago today
that the Supreme Court handed down the desegregation decision.
And despite the fact that eight years have gone past, that decision
- hasn't been implemented yet. - (applause from audience)
I don't have that much faith.
I don't have that much confidence.
I don't have that much patience.
And I don't have that much ignorance to--
(thunderous applause)
If the Supreme Court, which is the highest law making body
in the country can't get even eight percent compliance
within eight years because it's for black people,
then my patience has run out.
(applause)
When black people who are being oppressed become impatient,
they say that's emotional.
(murmuring)
Please, when black people who are being deprived of their citizenship...
not only of their civil rights, but their human rights,
become impatient, become fed up, don't wanna wait any longer,
then they say that's emotional.
(laughter and applause)
The negro, so-called negro, leaders and organizations should be praised.
They should be congratulated.
They should be complimented
because out of all of them combined, the white man has not yet found
one who will play the role of Uncle Tom.
(thunderous applause)
But yet he has found no Tom, no puppet, no parrot, who is still dumb enough
in 1962 to represent the injustices that he is inflicting against our people.
(applause)
We don't care what your religion is.
We don't care what organization you belong to.
We don't care how far in school you went or didn't go.
We don't care what kind of job you have.
We have to give you credit for shocking the white man
by not letting him divide you and use you one against the other.
(applause)
In the past, the greatest weapon the white man has had
has been his ability to divide and conquer.
As Jackie Robinson pointed out beautifully on the television last night,
4/5 of the world isn't white.
- Isn't that what Jackie said? - (applause)
And if 4/5 of the world is dark, how is it possible for 1/5
to rule, oppress, exploit, dominate, and brutalize the 4/5
who are in the majority? How did they do it?
Divide and conquer.
If I take my hand and slap you, you don't even feel it.
It might sting you because these digits are separated.
But all I have to do to put you back in your place is bring
- those digits together. - (applause)
This is what the white man has done to you and me.
He has divided us. And used us one against the other.
But today, thanks to Allah, you can say thanks to God
or thanks to Jesus or thanks to Jehovah-- whatever you are...
(applause)
But as a follower of the honorable Elijah Mohammad,
we have been taught to say thanks to Allah.
And that's what Jesus said. Jesus called on Allah.
He said, "Allah! [inaudible]"
I believe what's good for Jesus is good for you.
If Allah was good enough for Jesus to call upon, I think he
- should be good enough for you to call on. - (man) That's right!
Since the so-called negro community has shocked the white man
by resisting all efforts to divide us,
I think that you and I should continue to shock him
by singing and working together in unity.
Despite religious, political, economic, or educational, or social differences,
let us remember that we are not brutalized because we're Baptist.
We're not brutalized because we're Methodist.
We're not brutalized because we're Muslim.
We're not brutalized because we're Catholics.
We're brutalized because because we are black people in America.
(applause)
Here your mother is being raped and you're not supposed to be emotional.
Your woman bleeds, your woman can't walk the street
without some cracker putting his hands on her--
- and you're not supposed to be emotional! - (applause)
If you say that you're fed up, if you teach the negro
- but don't even know their own name-- - (woman) That's right!
Why? Because he took took it away from her.
Please, please. 20 million black people don't even know their own language.
Why? Because he took it away from us.
20 million black people who don't even know their history
of their ancestors. Why? Because he took it away from us!
And if you try and tell him how thoroughly and completely
they can rob, he says you're teaching hate.
(applause)
[That's something __________ want.]
(murmuring)
Today we're coming out college, you're coming out of the leading universities.
You're trying to go in a good direction.
But you don't which direction to go in.
And if somebody tries to take you right to the root of your problem
they say that that man a hate teacher.
If I ask why should the Senators in Washington--
and, then again, if we tell you that negro are being hung on the tree,
or being shot down illegally, unjustly...
and those negros should do something to protect themselves
you say you're advocating violence.
The white man is tricking you! He's trapping you.
He doesn't call it violence when he lands troops in South Vietnam.
- (applause) - Please, please, please!
He doesn't call it violence when he lands troops in Berlin.
When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, he didn't say get non-violent.
He said, "Praise the Lord, but pass the ammunition."
(applause)
But when someone attacks you, when someone comes at you with a club,
when someone comes you with a rope, when someone comes at you with a gun,
despite the fact that you've done nothing he tells you, "Suffer peacefully."
- (murmuring) - "Pray for those who use you to spite me."
[inaudible].
And how long can you suffer after suffering for 400 years?
(applause)
So I just wanna play up that little point right there
because he said that we play on your emotions.
And when you turn on your television tonight,
or your radio, or read the newspaper, they're gonna tell you in that paper
that I was playing on your emotions.
Imagine you, a second class citizen. That's not getting emotional!
It's getting intelligent.
And as far as your mayor is concerned, I see [audible].
A man named Jordy,
who has been slandering the Muslims,
a professional liar-- a professional liar.
(applause)
Who has mastered the art of using half truths.
Put in the paper that they break into our religious place of worship
and got records that they can use to prove that most of us have criminal records.
You can't be a negro in America and not have a criminal record.
(thunderous applause)
Martin Luther King has been to jail.
- (applause) - Please.
James Farmer has been to jail.
Why, you can't name a black man in this country who was sick and tired
of the hell that he's [catching] who hasn't been to jail.
Charged him with being seditious.
- They put Moses in jail! - (woman) Yeah!
- They put Daniel in jail. - (woman) Yeah!
Why, you haven't got a man of God in the Bible that wasn't put to jail
when they started speaking up against exploitation and oppression.
(applause)
They charged Jesus with sedition.
- Didn't they do that? - (crowd concurs)
They said he was against Caesar.
They said he was discriminating because he told his disciples,
"Go not the way of the gentiles, but rather go to the lost sheep."
He discriminated! Don't go near the gentiles,
go to the lost sheep. Go to the oppressed.
Go the downtrodden. Go to the exploited.
Go the people who don't know who they are,
who are lost from the knowledge of themselves and who are
strangers in a land that is not theirs.
Go to those people! Go to the slaves.
Go the second class citizens. Go to the ones who are suffering
the brunt of Cesar's brutality.
And if Jesus were here in America today, he wouldn't be going to the white man.
The white man is the oppressor! He would be going to the oppressed.
He would be going to the humble. He would be going to the lowly.
He would be going to the rejected and the despised.
He would be going to the so-called American negro.
(applause)