The Honorable Elijah Muhammad: The Right of Self-Defense

Final Call

The so-called Negroes of Birmingham, Alabama, would have been justified by the law of justice if they had killed every dog sicked upon them by the hired, tax-paid policemen, for the taxpayers did not hire dogs to police their lives and property.

And if the policemen had fired upon those who defended themselves against the bites of savage dogs that the Police Department trained expressly for the purpose of attacking so-called Negroes, they would have been justified by God and the Divine law of self-defense to fight and defend themselves against such savage dog and human attack.

Surely the American so-called Negroes would have God and world sympathy on their side if they would take the right steps or actions. The present actions being taken by them are wrong, for this action consists of demanding that the slave-masters accept their slaves (so-called Negroes) as their equals and as equal sharers in whatever the master has, such as social respect (which will destroy both as a people), and equal share in the government, decent housing conditions, and equal employment (not that they do not deserve it).

No master of anything can accept an unequal as his equal. This law of nature is divinely respected. If they (Martin Luther King and his followers) would accept the right way, which is the belief in Allah as God and Islam as a religion, and demand a place on this earth for our 20 million or more people that they can call their own, I would demand that every one of my followers join forces in a minute!

And if what they are asking for would be granted them, it would only be short-lived; nothing permanent is in it for the so-called Negroes. It would be very foolish for a leader of 22 million once-slaves to ask for temporary employment from their slave-masters’ children, who now use the 22 million for sport. (Sicking dogs on the so-called Negroes was done only for sport to see the frightened so-called Negroes run for their lives.)

But as soon as the so-called Negroes turned upon the dogs and policemen with stones, Washington, D.C., ordered the Army to intervene—not to help the so-called Negroes against the White southerners, but to help the White devils against the so-called Negroes if they tried to defend themselves. But as long as the dogs and policemen were biting and clubbing Black so-called Negroes, it was all right.

This clearly shows how much we are in dire need of unity, but the unity must be backed by a power superior to the power of our enemies. This power is in Allah and the Nation of Islam whose arms are outstretched if we would only accept them.

It is ignorant to look for heaven from the devils who only seek to take you to their doom (hell fire). They (Reverend King and followers) want the rights that the constitution offers to White citizens, but they are learning the hard way that the constitution does not apply to the Black slaves with respect to the right to vote. Certainly there is power in voting if there is justice for the so-called Negroes. But the crooked political machine of America can always keep the once-slaves, free slaves.

Who prepares and teaches politics? Is it not the White man (the enemy of so-called Negroes)? Who will the poor so-called Negroes vote for? Would it not be for a White man or a Black man whom the Whites would back? We could not hope for anything but more bloodshed at the polls in seeking justice from crooked politicians. [MORE]