Islam: Making America racist again

ROBERT M. LEVY

For much of its early years, America was a bipolar nation. It was mostly just Black and white. It was also racially segregated. Sometimes, segregation was written into law…sometimes it was adopted into custom…but it was always “racist.”

Then, starting after World War I, reaching critical mass after World War II, there was a notion that e pluribus unum meant what it said: “From many,” Black, White, adding Chinese and a few others, we were all “one”. Character, not pigment, gave a human being his worth. Race was irrelevant.

Desegregation was right. Even those who outwardly disagreed knew it was right. So, we tried.

Schools were desegregated. Segregated housing was made illegal. Race was even denounced as a barrier to employment. Communities, heretofore separate, were becoming more trusting and less antagonistic.

But it didn’t work well. We struggle with it today. The saga of Jackie Robinson is a parable illustrating the problem.

In 1947, baseball was America’s most popular sport. As with most things, baseball was also separated by race. E pluribus unum “demanded different.”

With high drama, Jackie Robinson, a Black ball player of impeccable character, joined the all-white Brooklyn Dodgers. The nation celebrated! Or that’s the story the kids are told.

In reality, the hot dog vendors, ticket takers and janitors were livid. When baseball was fully desegregated, the “Negro” League disintegrated. The workers all lost their jobs at Negro League ballparks. From the local publishers of programs to the barkeep across the street, everyday Black families went broke. Even Satchel Paige, arguably the greatest pitcher ever to play in either league, supposedly past his prime, became an almost unemployable sideshow.

Black Muslim leader Malcolm X understood it all. He was one of the few who realized that Jackie Robinson’s gain came with a lot of pain. Although not naming Robinson specifically, Malcolm voiced the unintended consequences of a well-meaning idea. His November 10, 1963, speech was entitled “Message to the Grass Roots.”

According to Malcolm, “[If] You integrate [coffee] with cream, you make it weak. If you pour too much cream in it, you won’t even know you ever had coffee. It used to be hot. It becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep.”

Even though “The Dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had captivated the nation three months earlier, its aspirations were being doubted by reality, the reality that resonated from Malcolm X.

White segregationists of the day were “in sync.” They shouted, “Kind wants kind;” or, in other words, “there is satisfaction in separation.” Malcolm agreed too. It was the central message of his speech.

To be fair, Malcolm pointed out that “forced” Jim Crow separation was also wrong. But, he argued, neither should voluntary racial integration be the norm. Blacks should not, volunteer for “creaming.”

To understand the racism of the left today, all Americans, especially white Americans, we must understand the split between Malcolm’s hot dog vendor and Dr. King’s “Dream.” Our nation, beginning with the Declaration of Independence, declared that “All men are created equal.” The Christianity which inspired that Declaration has, as its core belief, that human beings are created in the image of God and all neighbors should be treated with the same love as oneself. In that world, color is not a factor.

But in Malcolm’s world, race was important. His teachings came not from the Christian tradition but from a Muslim tradition of tribes, a society where “kind stays with kind.”

For many, strengthening the tribalism that allowed the Negro Leagues and its hot dog vendors to flourish was preferable to a world where all hot dog vendors competed equally. But life also became more difficult for the white baseball player who Jackie Robinson replaced just as it also became more difficult for the Black hot dog vendor whose job was lost. Did that mean we should abandon the goal of the American Revolution?

Malcolm’s concerns should be addressed but a 250-year revolution should not be abandoned.

The American Revolution did not conclude when the American colonies earned their independence. Since its birth, the United States has existed as an ongoing revolution seeking its holy grail that “all men are [treated] equally” regardless of race.

Dr. King described America’s founding documents best when, as part of his “Dream,” he characterized the documents as a promissory note:

According to Dr. King, “This note was a promise that all men—yes, black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

What America did not realize is that, not just Whites, but also Blacks would find it difficult to honor that note. The force of Malcolm X would become a constant headwind obstructing progress.

The legacy of Malcolm X (combined with the legacy of Southern segregationists) is a mindset of tribalism and separation. It is rooted in the tribalist faith of Malcolm X, the Muslim faith. This is the antithesis of the Christianity upon which the United States was built. The idea of a bipolar world of believers and infidels runs counter to the theory of America… “e pluribus unum” …from many… one. But it compliments a world where tribes are separated and rights are based on tribal identity. It hearkens not to the future, but toward a segregationist past.

Today, the forces of Zohran Mamdani and his Islamist and communist comrades form a political movement based upon race, the importance of race, and the need for separation by race. This was an outgrowth from the philosophy of Malcolm X. Critical Race Theory, the idea that all things must be observed first “through the lens of race” is key to that movement. It all fits well with Malcolm’s Islamic philosophy.

Indeed, we should have empathy for the hot dog vendor who lost his job selling his wares. Likewise, we should all have sympathy for the white player who was thrown off the Brooklyn roster when Jackie Robinson joined. But that should not deter a nation from realizing its promise of equal opportunity for all. It should not be a reason to roll back that goal as the left demands but will not admit. The American Revolution must go on despite the headwinds blowing from the socialist left.

Robert M. Levy RLevy.Substack.com

July 12, 2026

Robert M. Levy PsyschodadRobert@gmail.com

Robert M. Levy grew up in Moore County and graduated from Pinecrest High School. He earned a BA in history and sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his honors thesis on the Wilmington Rebellion of 1898 became part of the university’s library collection.

Admitted to the California State Bar in 1978, Levy practiced law for 40 years in California and Maryland, focusing on family and criminal law, including work with juvenile offenders and abused children. His writing on affirmative action appeared in the San Fernando Valley Law Review, and he authored Divorce: A Cynical Experience. He later earned a North Carolina teaching certificate from UNC Charlotte and taught high school social studies across Moore County.

Levy has served as chairman of the Moore County School Board, president of the North Carolina Electoral College, chairman of the Moore County Republican Party, and a columnist for The Pilot in Southern Pines. He lives in Pinehurst with his wife, Linda, and they have three children and four grandchildren.

Republished with permission.

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