Who assassinated Malcolm X and why? What difference did Malcolm X make in his lifetime?
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was shot dead in New York City. We’ll explore his death and legacy as discussed by Alex Haley in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which was published later that year. We’ll also take a look at updates in the decades since Malcolm X’s tragic death.
Keep reading to learn about the death and legacy of Malcolm X.
The Death & Legacy of Malcolm X
Before Malcolm X had a chance to accomplish very much with his newfound beliefs (traditional Islam and pan-Africanism) and organization (the Organization of Afro-American Unity), he was murdered in front of his family and community. We’ll explore the circumstances around his death and discuss the legacy of Malcolm X.
Malcolm X explains that, from a young age, he believed he would die a violent death—partly because that had happened to his father and other men in his family. Now that he’d left the Nation of Islam and begun making headway as a civil rights activist, he was even more convinced that someone would kill him.
(Shortform note: Although Malcolm X expected to be killed primarily because he was a Black activist, Black men in general have a significantly higher chance of dying a violent death. Some studies suggest that young Black men in the US are 20 times more likely to die by homicide than young white men—homicide is the most common cause of death among the demographic, and this likelihood shaves six months off the average Black man’s life expectancy. Police shootings account for a disproportionate number of homicide deaths of American Black men, according to other studies—and researchers suggest that police killings of unarmed Black men have a seriously negative impact on Black men’s mental health, which in turn may affect their physical health. That negative impact may be further exacerbated by witnessing footage of the killings.)
Co-author Alex Haley explains that, although Malcolm X expected to die before his autobiography was published, Malcolm X continued to work on it because he wanted people to understand racism and how he’d tried to combat it. Malcolm X also predicted that white people would continue to associate him with hatred long after he was dead—because, if they could write him off as hateful and violent, they’d never have to confront their own hatred and violence.
Haley says that, in the weeks before his death, Malcolm X told him that he believed the Nation of Islam was going to kill him, as agents of the group had been following him everywhere. When his house was firebombed one night, endangering his entire family, he publicly claimed that it was the Nation of Islam’s doing. However, he later told Haley that he wasn’t sure it was the Nation of Islam. Up to the day of his death, Malcolm X received disturbing phone calls and perceived threats all around him.
(Shortform note: According to some experts, the Nation of Islam tried repeatedly to kill Malcolm X. But the day after his house was firebombed, Malcolm X explained in a speech that he wouldn’t let such attacks hold him back—in part because he believed his children would be proud of him for persevering. Like many children of civil rights activists, his children weren’t taught about their father’s civil rights work after his death because it was too painful for the family to talk about. His daughter Ilyasah, who was only two when he died, has explained that after she learned more about him in college, she came to be very proud of him.)
Haley explains that, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was to give a speech to the OAAU at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, New York. After he started speaking, there was a commotion—and suddenly, he was shot. His wife and children were in the audience—she covered their children with her own body, then she hurried to the stage to try to save him. He was rushed to the hospital, but it appeared that he was already dead by his arrival.
According to Haley, the police ultimately arrested and indicted three members of the Nation of Islam for Malcolm X’s murder—Talmadge Hayer, Norman Butler, and Thomas Johnson.
Haley notes that Malcolm X remained controversial in death. Although masses of people attended his funeral, the proceedings were also plagued by bomb threats, and his family had trouble finding somewhere to hold the funeral. Ultimately, they were accepted by the Faith Temple, Church of God in Christ, and Malcolm X was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Ardsley, New York.
| Decades Later: An Update on Malcolm X’s Death and Legacy Hayer, Butler, and Johnson—now known as Mujahid Halim, Muhammad Aziz, and Khalil Islam, respectively—were convicted and sentenced to prison in 1965 for the murder of Malcolm X. But a Netflix documentary released in 2020, Who Killed Malcolm X?, called into question the circumstances surrounding the murder—and as a result, the district attorney of Manhattan decided to review the case, which led to the exoneration of both Aziz and Islam. Halim, who is the only one of the three men who admitted to shooting Malcolm X, was vocal about the innocence of the other two men from the beginning. Nevertheless, they each spent 20 or more years in prison, and Islam died before he was officially exonerated in 2021. The investigation that led to their exoneration revealed that the FBI and New York Police Department (NYPD) withheld evidence related to the murder. Around the same time, a letter was discovered in which a former NYPD police officer, Ray Woods, alleged that the murder of Malcolm X had been orchestrated by government officials—and that Woods had been forced under duress to participate in the scheme. Altogether, these developments have led the family of Malcolm X to initiate a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), FBI, and NYPD. Some experts argue that the miscarriage of justice following Malcolm X’s murder highlights the need for his legacy to be carried on—particularly his work around criminal justice reform. But his legacy is complicated—he’s often remembered as a hateful foil to more peaceful civil rights figures like Martin Luther King, Jr., despite the shift he made toward peace and racial harmony in the final years of his life. He’s also typically erased from US history classes—and, when he is included, he’s represented as violent, angry, and dangerous. On the other hand, Malcolm X continues to influence pro-Black activists and politicians, including former President Barack Obama, and there’s been a recent effort to rehabilitate his image. |
Exercise: What Does Malcolm X’s Life Mean to You?
Take some time to reflect on what you’ve learned about Malcolm X and his work as a civil rights activist.
- What did you believe about Malcolm X before you read this? Write down both facts you knew and opinions you had about him.
- Has your understanding of Malcolm X changed since reading this? Why or why not?
- What themes or events in Malcolm X’s life are still relevant to modern race relations?
