Islam and African-Americans
(from http://www.geocities.com/roots_n_rooted/islam.html)

It almost goes without saying these days. Africentric people know better
than to be affiliated with european culture or religion. (Sorry for my
candor, but today we are going to keep it real.) Most people don't realize
that for over 1,000 years Europeans have been trying to subjugate Africans.
Whether it be with war or religion, they have been fighting to tie our
minds and confuse us politically and spiritually. Am I wrong? Now, I
know this is a generalization. But we know that it general, this is the
essence of things. Most of us picked that up by studying history.

But how did it come to pass that more and more black people are adopting
Islam as their faith of choice. Why don't we ever talk about the role
that Islam played in destroying Africa? Perhaps it is because of all
the positive things that the Nation of Islam has done in the black community
that we are now giving the entire Islamic community a free ride. For
sure no other black organization has had the commitement to work with
black people from all walks of life. (Note that I called the Nation of
Islam an organization, and not a religious organization.)

Malcolm X is of course a shining example of how the Nation worked in
a positive manner to turn around the lives of many people. Malcolm X
was a drug dealer, school drop out, pimp, thug and ex-convict that was
transformed into a respectful, intelligent, informed voice for Africans
in America. No denying it, that was the doing of the Nation of Islam.
But I just can't get over the idea that black people are once again taking
on the ways of people that have enslaved, colonized and basically disrespected
us. It was Malcolm's own words that got me to thinking about whether
Africans were just trading one master for another. "Just because you
put kittens in an oven that does not make them biscuits." Within the
context of To me, this meant that just because the Nation of Islam has
done many good things in the black community this does not mean that
Islam is good for black people. Maybe being in the Nation got a lot of
people off the streets, working, organizing, but so does the Black church.
So could the United Way or a job training program. It's does not make
the United Way or the temp agency a source of Black culture. And it is
high time that black people live within the confines of their own culture.
* see bottom for further explanation.*

Regardless of the good work that the Nation of Islam has done in the
black community, it is hard to ignore the long history of violence and
racism suffered at the hands of Arabs. Arabs were the first outside group
to enslave Africans on a large scale. A book worth reading is "Two Thousand
Seasons". It details all the violations of African human rights that
took place at the hand of Arabs during the times of ancient slavery.
You could say they provided an example for Europeans to follow. Africans
were used for labor and leisure throughout the Middle East. Under the
guise of Allah-sanctioned Jihads (holy wars) many African nations were
colonized and enslaved. So, are we to believe that God told the Arabs
to enslave us and introduce Islam to Africa by way of the sword? I doubt
it. Just like God didn't tell the Christians to come to Africa and "save
our souls." Now, I might be able to forgive this little lie except that
both christians and muslims continue to say that God wants them to convert
the world. I find it hard to believe the God only talks to muslims and
christians.

There are still reports to this day of African slavery in the Middle
East. Are not the perpetrators of these actions Muslims themselves? The
same people that persecute their women and encourage chauvinist tendancies
in their men? This does not sound like the west Africa from which 90%
of African-Americans can find their ancestry. Are we to give this culture
a free ride because black people made something good out of it (in spite
of it's origins?). So here we end up asking ourselves another question;
how did black people again of those that
have enslaved them?

When you become a muslim exactly what do you really become anyway? It
seems that a lot of Africans (Blacks) in America sought refuge in Islam
during the conscious movement of the 60s and 70s. These people were looking
for a way to connect with their own culture. Most of these people were
interested in eradicating all the european (white) influences in their
lives and got involved in Islam because they mistakingly believed that
Islam was of African origin. Again in the 80s and early 90s more African
fled the ways of white america, which they considered racist and oppressive,
in favor of Islam and what they knew to be a different way of doing things.
These individuals now pray in arabic (if they are good muslims), they
(women) wear their hair covered in a middle eastern manner, prescribe
to the thought that Mecca is the Holy Land, and use traditional, and
more stoic arabic culture to define ediquette and ethics within their
households. While we can say that muslims are less than likely to be
drinkers, drug abusers, or social thugs, can we say that they are expressing
their pride in being black? Are they any closer to the freedom that they
desired when they left christianity and white american values? Maybe
they are living more clean lives, but they can not say that they arrived
at their original objective of knowing themselves better. Or are they
simply trading one master for another?