Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994 TAG: 9404250167
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
In an interview to be aired Friday night on ABC-TV's ``20/20,'' Farrakhan said he was angry with Malcolm X for splitting with Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad and publicly criticizing him. ``... But today, looking back, Malcolm would be so much more valuable to us alive,'' he said.
Malcolm X's widow, Betty Shabazz, said recently that she believes Farrakhan had some role in the 1965 assassination.
Farrakhan denied that, but admitted fueling anti-Malcolm sentiment with an article published in the Nation of Islam's newspaper shortly before the assassination.
That article said, in part, ``The die is set and Malcolm shall not escape. Such a man as Malcolm is worthy of death.''
``Betty Shabazz never said that Farrakhan was a plotter in the death of Malcolm. But she said that Farrakhan helped to create the atmosphere,'' Farrakhan said. ``And that I can agree with.''
Farrakhan also said he stands by ``truths'' about Jews articulated by his former national assistant, Khallid Muhammad. Muhammad was widely denounced for a speech in which he called Jews ``bloodsuckers of the black community,'' and Farrakhan removed him from his job.
``In the '60s, many Jews were the merchants, they were the landlords,'' Farrakhan said. ``Now if you ask what is a bloodsucker, a bloodsucker is a leech. And when you put a leech on your skin, that leech sucks blood from you in order to maintain its own life."
by CNB