1994-March-4

Muslim Journal

People of African Descent on Race and Traditional Pride: Part 4

Imam W. Deen Mohammed

(Note: Speaking on the theme of "People of African Decent — on Race and Traditional Pride," Imam W. Deen Mohammed gave the following address.)

Race or racial classification or color consciousness, however we may express it, is a slippery and mysterious burden on the world populations of all colors. I have been among them and I know that we are not the only ones who suffer the burden of race and of race consciousness or of racism. People all over this earth suffer that burden.

"White" racism as it was imposed upon the world would have us believe that because a man has white skin he is superior to a man who has black skin. That white straight hair is better than nappy wooly hair. This is not rational. The victims of white racism were affected mentally by it to think themselves inferior to the white race.

That tells us that if language is introduced by the established order or society, the subjects and the people who are not in the power of having an intellect to examine or question the established order become victimized by the established order. They have no way of defending themselves or proving themselves. So whether they dislike it or like it they are affected by the order of the powerful and by what the powerful have established as language.

There are many who will say they don't have any inferiority complexes because of what the White world has said of you and them. But I can assure you that I meet every day some of our people who have been seriously damaged by what White racist language has said of the White race and of the Black race or of the European people and the African people.

It will serve well to note that the words "white" and "black" in the language of
symbolism refer both to virtuousness and divinities and represent the angelic beings. This is the one side. On the other side they refer to wickedness and devils.

It is desired that what will follow will present clearly the mythical shackles of race and racism, which escapes modern man's attempts to free his mind. Slippery language developed upon the world subtle enough to preserve and extend the existence of the savage and the non-rational thinker upon a support but not a rational support. It is based upon a pretense of language and intelligence. It is either by plot or by coincidence that the authors of racism and "race" have until now successfully exploited world populations with or through their nature-distorted language.

Symbolism distorts language. It takes language out of its normal form and puts it in distorted form or freakish form — it is not true to its nature. If you can interpret the symbolism you will find that as a symbol it is true, but as a clear communication it is a freak language. This category in the language of symbolism confounds this world's common language logic.

So we are reading and hearing a lot of things about the Black man and the White man, especially if you came along that road of the Nation of Islam, that challenged the mind and confounded the thinking. Some just tripped off or in the language of the Nation of Islam, "Your moon was shot out and dropped and lost all of its water.

We would be lying to ourselves if we said "race" is not a confusion and a burden on its efforts to reason and be comfortable with the term "race." When we begin to really think about race and try to understand race and begin to allow our minds to register the language of race-consciousness, we begin to suffer a burden.

A powerful advantage was given to one people over the other. That advantage is to be understood as the advantage of psychology. It is a psychology that makes artificial humans on both sides, while empowering the people that that particular psychology favors. Symbolism based race consciousness can never set well in our hearts and mind. It is not a legitimate arrival in human nature.