The Nation Of Islam And African Americans - 949 Words

The Nation of Islam was founded by Wali Farad in Detroit, Michigan in 1930. While Farad is credited with the foundation, most of the teachings came from a different movement. It evolved from the Moorish Temple of Science founded by Timothy Drew (Source 1). Drew preached that Islam was the correct faith for African Americans. Drew also preached that African Americans were superior to Caucasians. The Nation of Islam, along with being a religious movement, was a movement for change. They wanted to raise awareness and create racial pride within the African American community (Source 1). The Nation of Islam wanted to improve the lives of African Americans, however, how they wanted to achieve that improvement was unacceptable. The Nation of†¦show more content†¦Blood Libel is the belief that Jews kidnap children and use their blood in their rituals. The controlling of the media and finances resemble Hitler’s argument that Jews were after world domination. These two examples of the Nation of Islam slandering Christianity and Judaism are only two of the many examples of slander. The Nation of Islam created an us vs. them mentality. This mentality is dangerous and can have disastrous effect on society. The hatred can lead to conflicts and wars. Along with denouncing any religion other than Islam, they denounce anyone that is not African American. This is the second reason that the movement was unacceptable. The Nation of Islam used the teachings of Timothy Drew from the Temple of Science (Source 3). Drew preached that African Americans were the superior race. He especially focused on their superiority over the Caucasians. Drew also preached that the Caucasians were doomed because Jesus was â€Å"a black man who attempted to redeem the Black Moabites, only to be executed by the white Romans† (Source 3). These teachings influenced the Nation of Islam greatly and lead to their belief in African American superiority. It is important for African Americ ans to feel a sense of pride, however, that should not lead one to believe that they are better than others based off of their skin tone. This prejudice leads to discrimination of other based on skin color. Instead of falling