3. Strain, Christopher Barry. “Civil Rights and ... - Freedom Archives

supremacists by Elijah Muhammad's separatist Black Muslim movement," and warning "that
if your present racist agitation against our people there in Alabama causes physical harm to
Reverend King or any other black American, that you and your Ku Klux Klan friends will be
met with maximum physical retaliation from those of us who . . . believe in asserting our
right of self-defense--by any means necessary."~ Malcolm publicly defended King, in effect
acknowledging King's successes in Alabama. He pledged to come to King's aid should
Rockwell physically threaten him . This pledge rcinfocced Malcolm's role as understudy to
King as principal player in the events unfolding in the South ; but, conversely, it also gave
testimony to Malcolm's willingness to involve himself fully, in a manner of foc+ce, should the
need arise . Furthermore, in pledging to defend King, Malcolm introduced the idea that self-
defense was transferable ; that is, if you are unwilling or unable to defend yourself, others
more inclined or more capable might, in a manner of speaking, defend yourself for you . The
Deacons for Defense and Justice would later build their organization on this concept, as
would the Black Panthers .
The telegram also illustrates how even Malcolm, normally consistent in his
understanding of self-defense and what that phrase meant, could blur the distinctions between
true self-defense and aggressive, retaliatory violence . He used the phrase "maximum
physical retaliation" in conjunction with his affirmation of "our right to self-defense--by any
means necessary" and in doing so, equated the two . In the name of self-defense, he promised
to destroy Rockwell should harm come to King .
Malcolm, quoted in Thulani Davis, Malcolm X : The Great Photogra~ (New York:
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1992), 44.
104