Page marked “MX EXTRA” from the original typescript of Alex Haley’s 1963 interview of Malcolm X for Playboy magazine, one page, 8.5 x 11, signed "Malcolm X" in the bottom margin (with a marginal line indicating his approval of the contents). In full: [Haley] “Mr. Malcolm, a chemical is in development that it is said can influence the pigmentation genes in any desired direction. Suppose you could control this chemical and the right to use it on anyone. Would you make all whites black, or all blacks white? [Malcolm X] The Honorable Elijah Muhammad is not interested in the white man. He is interested in the black man. The white man is not interested in the black man only to the extent that the black man is of use to him. [Haley] Mr. Malcolm, you speak only in whites and blacks, when there are huge other groups to be considered. By implication if not directly you seem to include everyone not white into your general lumping of black people. It is highly probable that some of the races generally referred to as red, brown, and yellow, might take considerable exception to this. [Malcolm X] Mr. Muhammad says that the red, the brown and the yellow are all part of the black nation. Which means that black, brown, red, yellow, all are brothers, all are one family. The white one is a stranger. He's the odd-fellow. [Haley] Mr. Malcolm, you apparently feel that it is impossible for any white person to be other than the evil human being that you describe. Isn't it wrong to attribute a predisposition mm to every white person. Suppose you consider a white babe that would be reared with no racial-difference influences whatever. Do you think that child would grow up anti-black as you say all white people are? [Malcolm X] Is it wrong to attribute a predisposition to wheat before it comes up out of the ground? The characteristics and nature of wheat make it wheat before it comes up from the ground. Wheat differs from barley because of its nature. It perpetuates its own characteristics. The white race has characteristics that more.” In fine condition, with light uniform toning, and staples holes to the upper left corner. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as “NM-MT 8.”
Playboy's May 1963 interview with Malcolm X was one of the most famous of Haley’s career and gave most readers their first in-depth look at Malcolm X’s teachings and personality. Supporters and critics viewed the Muslim minister in very different terms. Admirers saw him as a courageous advocate for the rights of African-Americans and condemned crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. Nevertheless, he has been described as one of the greatest and most influential African-American leaders in history. Within a year of granting this interview, with America still gripped by ever-growing racial tension, the once-combative black nationalist Malcolm X had repudiated almost every stance in the interview. He had broken with the Nation of Islam movement, fallen out with its leader, Elijah Muhammad, renounced black supremacy, and embraced racial equality and human rights. He was assassinated in Harlem in 1965.
The Marc and Mary Perkins Collection.
