The Old Negro and the New Negro by Malcolm X

In 1963, with Malcolm X already a national figure and the Muslim cause for which he was the most articulate spokesman clearly gaining ground among the black masses of America, The Saturday Evening Post published an article entitled "Merchants of Hate. " It was nothing very new for Malcolm or the Muslims. Four years before there had been a major television program aired about the Muslims called "The Hate That Hate Produced," and during the intervening years the "hate" image had been promulgated by virtually all the major newspapers and magazines of the country. One of the most frequently asked questions that Malcolm had to confront in those days was: "Mr. Malcolm X, why do you teach black supremacy, and hate? " That question, or its many variants, Malcolm relates, was like a red flag being waved in front of him. But he learned to field it with characteristic wit, such as the example he cites in his autobiography: "For the white man to ask the black man if he hates him is just like the rapist asking the raped, or the wolf asking the sheep, 'Do you hate me? ' The white man is in no moral position to accuse anyone else of hate!"

It is to this article, "Merchants of Hate" that Malcolm refers several times in the following speech-interview.