Faith and Race in American Political Life

Robin Dale Jacobson, Nancy D. Wadsworth, Robin Dale Jacobson, Nancy D. Wadsworth

• Publisher: University of Virginia Press
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9780813932057
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political History & Theory
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Drawing on scholarship from an array of disciplines, this volume provides a deep and timely look at the intertwining of race and religion in American politics. The contributors apply the methods of intersectionality, but where this approach has typically considered race, class, and gender, the essays collected here focus on religion, too, to offer a theoretically robust conceptualization of how these elements intersect--and how they are actively impacting the political process.

Contributors

Antony W. Alumkal, Iliff School of Theology * Carlos Figueroa, University of Texas at Brownsville * Robert D. Francis, Lutheran Services in America * Susan M. Gordon, independent scholar * Edwin I. Hernández, DeVos Family Foundations * Robin Dale Jacobson, University of Puget Sound * Robert P. Jones, Public Religion Research Institute * Jonathan I. Leib, Old Dominion University * Jessica Hamar Martínez, University of Arizona * Eric Michael Mazur, Virginia Wesleyan College * Sangay Mishra, University of Southern California * Catherine Paden, Simmons College * Milagros Peña, University of Florida * Tobin Miller Shearer, University of Montana * Nancy D. Wadsworth, University of Denver * Gerald R. Webster, University of Wyoming

---

Possibilities and Limits

---

---

---

---

Political Advocacy through Religious Organization?

The Evolving Role of the Nation of Islam

---

CATHERINE PADEN

America is going all over the world selling them on democracy, and the hallmark of democracy is that we have the right to elect and select those who would lead us. But now, we in America, the American electorate, are dropping out of the most important part of being in a democracy—the voting process.

—Speech delivered by the Reverend Louis Farrakhan at the Get Out the Vote rally, Chicago, November 1, 1998

While not an explicitly political organization, the Nation of Islam has been politically relevant since its founding in 1931. The Nation’s founding doctrines of racial separatism and economic self-sufficiency for blacks have required that the organization contend with political realities for African Americans. As Jacobson and Wadsworth discuss in the introduction to this volume, the Nation embodies religion as a tool of resistance. Operating at the intersections of race, class, and religion, the Nation is one of few national organizations to specifically target its message and outreach to low-income African Americans. Throughout the organization’s history, the Nation’s teachings and writings have emphasized the importance of members remaining removed from the American political system. Recently, however, the organization has stepped away from its historically apolitical role, and its leadership has encouraged members to vote and become politically participatory. This essay traces this shift within the organization and considers its implications. Does a shift to mainstream politics detract from the Nation of Islam’s role as a more radical organization seeking fundamental changes to the U.S. political system?

The Nation’s teachings state that if members participate in any political pursuit, it should be political protest, or other activities that seek to change the U.S. political system from outside that system. However, in 1984 the Reverend Louis Farrakhan encouraged members of the Nation to vote for the first time in the organization’s history. Since 1984, Farrakhan has reemphasized his call to vote, and has publicly touted his own voting history. As the epigraph at the head of this essay suggests, Farrakhan’s political rhetoric now includes analysis of the harm brought to a democracy if people do not exercise their right to vote.

This shift was one component of Farrakhan’s increasing involvement with the political mainstream, including going to meetings with world leaders and extensive involvement in international affairs. This political engagement does not, however, indicate the Nation’s support of the American political system. As Adolph Reed explains, Farrakhan remains critical of politics even as he engages in electoral battles; he presents himself and the Nation as redeemers of a corrupt political system (Reed 1991). Additionally, Farrakhan’s calls for participation are consistently tempered by his warnings about the problems inherent in the U.S. political system. In a 1998 speech in Chicago, Farrakhan explained the limits of electoral participation: “I don’t have any illusion about telling you to vote. You should vote for those whom you feel will do good for us, but remember, the good that they do is limited by the system they are in” (Farrakhan 1998).

Nonetheless, this shift in the Nation of Islam’s activities could potentially change a central purpose of the organization, which has been to resist and critique the political, social, and economic systems of the United States from the outside. Because of its commitment to the poor based on its religious ideology, the Nation is unique in this purpose.¹ In a 1996 interview, Farrakhan explained the importance of hearing the voices of the poor:

You have between 30 and 40 million Black people, you have a fast growing Hispanic community, you have an Asian and an Arab and an Indian community, and given the dissatisfaction in the country, we need to establish a national agenda that all of these groups can stand on so that in a united way we can leverage our vote to influence the direction of this nation toward the best interest of the poor and the weak rather than a nation held hostage by the rich and the powerful. This is leading … to the destruction of this democracy. (“Kennedy and Farrakhan One-On-One” 2007)

Although Farrakhan has recently espoused political activity, the Nation of Islam has not transformed into a political organization. The organization has maintained its founding commitment to religious and political doctrine of separation, as well as controversial positions espoused by its leadership—these positions may preclude traditional political representation while maintaining the Nation’s radical voice calling for change within the political system.

In the remainder of this essay, I first introduce the Nation of Islam and the circumstances of its founding. The Nation’s organizational evolution illustrates its commitment to its primary constituency—low-income African Americans. Second, I place the Nation within the context of African American political engagement through religious institutions—specifically, the African American church. I argue, as have other scholars, that the Nation’s political engagement is very different from that of the church: the organization is reaching out to an undermobilized group through nontraditional political means. The organization’s outreach and ideology give it a unique role among religious institutions. Third, I examine the Nation’s religious belief system and behavioral requirements, which are intended to appeal to low-income African Americans.

After establishing the organization’s commitment to the poor, I assess the Nation’s shifting level of engagement with the U.S. political system. Finally, I offer an assessment of the implications of this engagement for the Nation’s voice, which has been prominent among interest groups and religious organizations in its critique of the U.S. system and its call for systemic change to address racial hierarchies and economic disadvantage. Although the organization encourages mainstream political participation among its members, its message remains based on a religious doctrine that dictates distrust of the political, economic, and social systems of the United States. The Nation’s advocacy on behalf of low-income African Americans brings the political neglect of the poor in American democracy sharply into focus and points to the fallacy of assuming democratic inclusiveness in the U.S. political system.²

The Founding of the Nation of Islam

From its inception, the Nation of Islam was founded as an organization based in a critique of the U.S. political, religious, economic, and social systems. According to the Nation’s belief, God appeared in the person of W. D. Fard during the summer of 1930 in Detroit, Michigan. Fard introduced himself to the African American community in Detroit as a merchant of silks. As he visited households to sell his goods, he told customers tales from his foreign travels and included lessons learned abroad as to how African Americans could improve their health (Lincoln 1994, 48–50). Apparently Fard was a captivating storyteller—his listeners often asked him to return to their homes.

Fard’s lessons quickly turned into religious-based teachings. After introducing religion into his conversations with his customers, Fard began to identify himself as an Arab on a mission from God, sent to the United States to regain the chosen people—black Americans (ibid., 14). To gain the trust of potential converts, Fard relied on Christianity in his initial recruitment activities, reinterpreting familiar Bible stories. As Fard built relationships with his listeners, he taught that the Bible did not espouse an appropriate set of beliefs for African Americans and had been used historically as an instrument of oppression—it was a tool used by whites to justify slavery and oppress black Americans. Instead, African Americans should rely on the Koran for their religious beliefs (Gardell 1996, 51).

Fard was active in Detroit during the Great Depression, which hit African Americans particularly hard. Large numbers of blacks migrated from the South to northern cities such as Chicago and Detroit in search of economic opportunity. However, these opportunities were often quite limited, and newly arriving migrants were often met with violence and discrimination (Clegg 1997, 38). Therefore, Fard’s language of economic empowerment among African Americans and his virulent rejection of the violent subjugation of blacks appealed to African Americans (Lee 1996, 20). By 1933, Fard had approximately 8,000 followers, and the Nation of Islam was established with the founding of Temple No. 1 in Detroit (Gardell 1996, 12–14).

Before Fard appeared, a man named Elijah Poole had moved to Detroit from Georgia with his wife, Clara. Soon after he arrived in Detroit, Elijah Poole became involved in Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association. During this time, Poole began to hear stories of a prophet who taught that Islam was the original religion of blacks in the United States and that African Americans originated in royalty from the holy city of Mecca. In 1931, Poole heard Fard speak at a meeting in Detroit. Poole approached Fard after his speech and informed the latter of a realization he had had during Fard’s speech—that Fard was God. From this point, Fard began to teach Poole the lessons he had been sent to communicate to black Americans (Gardell 1996, 58). During this period Elijah Poole rescinded his slave name and took the name Elijah Muhammad.

A Change in Leadership and Organizational Expansion

Because of its perceived antiwhite sentiments, the Nation of Islam was portrayed by the media and the Detroit police as a dangerous and subversive organization. In 1933 Fard was expelled from Detroit after his third arrest—one year before his final disappearance (Lee 1996, 42). Before his expulsion, Fard named Elijah Muhammad his chief minister. Since Fard was God, and since he had appointed Muhammad to bear his message, Elijah Muhammad gained the status of Prophet and First Messenger (Lee 1996, 26). Fard’s disappearance, and the persecution of the Detroit police department, led to a period of instability within the Nation. Because of the organization’s perceived vulnerability during this time, other groups attempted to attract membership away from the Nation. Although no particular organization was successful, the overall impact on the Nation was a dwindling membership (Lee 1996, 43).

Because of this new factionalism within the Nation, and because of perceived danger from the police, Muhammad left Detroit and moved to Chicago to establish Temple No. 2. From Chicago, Muhammad revitalized the Black Muslims, and established his leadership as a highly militant and effective one (Lincoln 1994, 16). Elijah Muhammad is responsible for expanding the Nation of Islam, both ideologically and numerically. Under Muhammad, the Nation established businesses, schools, housing, and farms to achieve the goal of self-sufficiency among blacks.

The growth of the Nation continued under Muhammad’s leadership, and its teachings reached Malcolm Little, who was serving time in Charleston State Prison. Little converted and changed his name to Malcolm X while he was in prison. In 1952, one year after his release, Malcolm X was named assistant minister of Temple No.1 in Detroit. From Detroit, he was sent by Muhammad to set up temples in Boston and Philadelphia. In June 1954, Malcolm X was appointed head minister of Temple No. 7 in New York City. His thirteen-year tenure as an organizational leader led to the rapid expansion of the Nation’s membership (Cone 1995, 91).

Emerging Organizational and Class Divisions within the Nation

After an international journey during which he adopted the beliefs and practices of traditional Islam, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1963. His departure led to significant changes within the organization. In 1964, Muhammad appointed Louis X, who would later change his name to Louis Farrakhan, minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem. After Malcolm X’s death in 1965, the Harlem temple was the site of many protests by those who blamed the Black Muslims for his assassination. The mosque was internally destroyed by a firebombing, and the organization’s future was uncertain. During this challenging period, Louis X proved his skill as a leader and organizer by rebuilding the mosque, and its membership, to become the largest mosque in the history of the Nation. After this success, Elijah Muhammad elevated Louis X to the position of National Representative in 1967 (Gardell 1996, 121).

Elijah Muhammad died in 1975, and the Nation experienced a split in its organization and leadership. Initially Muhammad’s son, Warith Deen Muhammad, took over the Nation and changed the organization’s theology to a more traditional interpretation of Islam. He began a series of reforms to bring traditional Islamic practice to the Nation and to rid it of its identity as a race-based organization. He changed the name of the organization first to the World Community of al-Islam in the West. Warith Deen Muhammad argued that his father’s message was appropriate during a time when African Americans had not been awakened to their history or potential but that the time had come for more advanced Islamic teachings. He lifted the restriction that only African Americans were eligible to be Nation of Islam members in June 1975. This action met substantial opposition from the ranks of ministers and soldiers of the Nation. To prevent an organized backlash against him, Muhammad dissolved the Fruit of Islam, the Nation’s unarmed security force. In 1977, Muhammad replaced the symbol of the crescent and star on the Nation of Islam’s flag with an image of the Koran. Simultaneously he began to emphasize the importance of American patriotism and integration into white American society (Gardell 1996, 108).

Not all members of the Nation were pleased with Warith Deen Muhammad’s changes to the Nation’s doctrine. Many followers considered the organization’s calls for systemic economic and political change to be critical to its theology. As the opposition to Muhammad grew, Louis X, serving as minister at Temple No. 7, left the United States and traveled throughout Africa and the Caribbean. While he was traveling, Louis X was struck by the racism apparent in every multiracial society he visited, including in Muslim countries. He became convinced that systemic racial oppression was widespread, not only in the United States, and necessitated separatist solutions. Therefore, he actively opposed Muhammad’s plans to change the doctrine of the Nation. On November 8, 1977, Louis X officially declared his intention to reestablish the Nation of Islam according to the platform of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, ushering in the current period of the Nation’s history known as the Second Resurrection (Gardell 1996, 154).

The theological and ideological split within the Nation led to an explicit appeal to low-income African Americans by Farrakhan’s organization (Mamiya 1982, 145). Unlike Muhammad’s group, Farrakhan’s reestablished Nation of Islam emphasized separation from white-dominated American society. Because of its focus on integration and economic advancement within the existing political and economic system, Warith Deen Muhammad’s organization appealed to middle-class African Americans. Farrakhan, on the other hand, emphasized the unique appeal of his revitalized Nation to low-income African Americans (Marsh 1996, 117).

Warith Deen Muhammad’s organization disintegrated by the mid-1980s. In 1986 he was sued by three of Elijah Muhammad’s other children for money from their father’s estate that had been used to build Warith Deen Muhammad’s organization. Muhammad’s loss in this case required him to sell the Nation’s palace, which Louis Farrakhan bought on July 31, 1988. Upon this purchase, Farrakhan announced that the Nation of Islam had regained its center (Gardell 1996, 137). Even more so than at its founding, the Nation was firmly established as a religious organization committed to low-income African Americans.

At the Intersection of Politics and Faith: African American Political Mobilization

T...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: Intersecting Race and Religion
• Foundations
• Acting Out
• Possibilties and Limits
• Notes on Contributors
• Index