"..Malcolm X sharply criticized the

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so-called Black leaders who refused to tell Black people the truth about their oppression and the true nature 16 SOCIALIST ACTION MAY 1990 of the 'American system.

true gifts to evil purpose," said a Times editorial just days after the murder of Malcolm X. "His ruthless and fanatical belief in violence... marked him for fame, and for a violent end....

"He did not seek to fit into society or into the life of his own people.... The world he saw through those horn-rimmed glasses of his was distorted and dark. But he made it darker still with his exaltation of fanaticism. Yesterday someone came out of that darkness that he spawned and killed him."

Malcolm the "race-hater" and advocate of "violence" is now someone to be praised and listened to. Why the turnaround?

Cheryll Greene, the executive director of Essence, a magazine for Black women, said people are finding that "Malcolm has many answers that are as relevant today as they were in the 1960's."

And not only for Blacks. Whites, Latinos, and Asians are also impacted by Malcolm's ideas.

The new generation hears Malcolm's words because his speeches are logical and hit home. Working people of all colors can identify with his stinging attacks on national oppression and exploitation practiced by the employers and bankers. Black youth especially can identify with Malcolm's sharp denunciations of racial discrimination and his call for Black people to fight back "by any means necessary."

The renewed interest in Malcolm X is a sign of the times. Twenty-five years since his death all the problems he talked about still exist. They have taken new forms but are nevertheless still visible.

For example, Black unemployment remains in double-digits, always twice the official levels for whites—in other words, at depression levels. Black youth unemployment is over 50 percent.

The number of youth dropping out of high school continues to accelerate. Public education available to Blacks remains qualitatively worse than for whites. Housing is inferior in Black communities.

According to recent government reports, nearly 25 percent of Black men in their 20s are in jail, on probation, or parole. More Black men in their 20s are under court control than Black men of all ages in higher education. By contrast only 6 percent of whites are under court supervision.

The gap between the average income and standard of living among Blacks and whites continues to widen. While the living conditions for masses of Black people continues to worsen, a layer of Blacks has made some real progress.

Black "Middle Class"

Since 1965 a significant number of Blacks have "made it" in capitalist society. They are the thousands of Black Elected Officials, professionals in large corporations, government