Revolutionary Black Liberation Leader in the U.S.
1925-1965
Man, how could you think you're an
American and you haven't ever had any
kind of American treat over here? You
have never, never!
Ten men can be sitting at a table eating,
you know, dining, and I can come and
sit down where they're dining. They're
dining; I've got a plate in front of me,
but nothing is on it. Because all of us
are sitting at the same table, are all of us
diners? I'm not a diner until you let me
dine. Then I become a diner. Just being
at the table with others who are dining
doesn't make me a diner, and this is what
you've got to get in your head here in this
country.
Just because you're in this country doesn't
make you an American. No, you've got
to go farther than that before you can
become an American. You've got to enjoy
the fruits of Americanism. You haven't
enjoyed those fruits. You've enjoyed the
thorns. You've enjoyed the thistles. But
you have not enjoyed the fruits, no sir. You
have fought harder for the fruits than the
white man has. You have worked harder
for the fruits than the white man has, but
you've enjoyed less. When the man put
the uniform on you and sent you abroad,
you fought harder than they did. Yeah,
I know you--when you're fighting for
them, you can fight.
Excerpt from Malcolm X speech at the Ford Auditorium on February 14, 1965. Malcolm delivered this speech on the day that his home in New York was firebombed.
Detroit, Michigan
