Just as a tree without roots is dead, a people without history or cultural roots also becomes a dead people.

When you hear me say "by any means necessary," I mean exactly that. I believe in anything that is necessary to correct unjust conditions-political, economic, social, physical, anything that is necessary.

We're primarily interested in solving the problem of 20 million black people. And if integration is going to solve the problem tomorrow, then let's integrate. But since the Supreme Court issued its desegregation decision seven years ago, and you only have about six or seven percent integration now, on an educational level, that means that the black man trying to use integration as a means of solving his problem will be another 100 years just getting integration on an educational level.

There was no racism; there was no problem [in Mecca].

Education is our passport to the future.

Well, the white race in America is the same way. As individuals it is impossible for them to escape the collective crime committed against the Negroes in this country, collectively.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad says number one, [Negro] must know - have a knowledge of himself. And this gives him confidence in himself. He - he has been brainwashed by the educational system that exists here in America to the point where he feels he was a savage in the jungle when he was - before he was brought here. And this destroys his morale.