The Night Malcolm X Spoke at the Oxford Union

I don't believe in any form of unjustified extremism. But I believe that when a man is exercising extremism, [when] a human being is exercising extremism, in defense of liberty for human beings, it's no vice. -Malcolm X, Oxford Union debate

The final section of his speech was also prompted by a student's intervention. In this case, the student criticized the fact that Malcolm X had "projected, rather successfully, a quite upsetting image of that 'type. " Members of the audience started to heckle the questioner. Malcolm X, eager to respond, asked the audience to quiet down so he could address the comment. And so, for the final third of this speech, he went into detail about exactly what he thought of "that type. " For all that he had developed a human rights agenda and no longer considered white people inherently racist, Malcolm X had not moderated his view of the American government's culpability for racism one bit. Here, in a foreign country and in front of a strategic audience in the chamber and a national audience on television, was an ideal opportunity to indict his homeland.