The Nation of Islam provided a new image of Black American identity–one that represented order, protection, and purity to historically oppressed and demonized people. To White Americans, this image of domesticity threatened their own caricatures of identity and hierarchy. Many of the principles the Nation of Islam adopted, however, were influenced heavily by what members had experienced and seen from White hierarchy. One significant example of this is shown through their strict and traditional gender roles.
According to Chan-Malik, members of the Nation of Islam “were drawn to the group’s strict implementation of traditional gender roles and saw them as a means to reverse the breakdown of the Black family that had occurred under slavery” (76). Slavery, the subjugation of Black people under Whites, involved many brutal practices including cutting off ties to any familial relative or homeland, the constant threat of separating family units and loved ones, the mass rape and sexual violence of Black men and women, and forced child-rearing. I highlighted these few examples to illuminate how the historic destruction of the Black family unit by white people impacted the more recent gender politics of the Nation of Islam.
Black women were especially attracted to the structure set up by the Nation of Islam, which had them act out domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing. A lot of the appeal was through messaging. People like Elijah Muhammad and especially Malcolm X preached how Black woman were pure, innocent, and revered–terms which had been “equated with white womanhood and thereby femininity—both privileged spheres in our society; spheres where black women have been historically denied” (84). The very core of the Nation of Islam’s organization relies on the subject of a man being able to “elevate” and “protect” his woman; thus the woman must be the object of protection and reverence. It’s not a coincidence that much of this ideology surrounding dominant men and subservient women reflect traditionally White patriarchal values as this was their main frame of reference for masculinity and what it looked like. In fact, the main reason White men in America felt so threatened by these images of Black Muslims was because it represented a loss of their own dominant positioning in hierarchy, both over women and Black people. The idea that this group of Black Muslims could overtake them in this area of patriarchy was deeply troubling to them.
“In 1959, a vision of strong Black families, anchored by images of virtuous Black women engaged in domestic duties, was critical to Malcolm X’s “proper presentation” of Black Muslim life” (94). One such depiction from the Nation of Islam’s magazine, “The Messenger”, showcases a “typical Mosslem family” with the women on one side of the photo and the men on the other as if there is an invisible line between the two. The mother is shown with a child, indicating the role of bearing and raising children as a central duty of Black Muslim women. The female children are shown well-dressed and reading a book, a stark contrast to what most of White America associated the Black image with. In this way, the Nation of Islam presented itself as a safe harbor for Black people, and particularly Black women who wanted to be associated with a strain of femininity they had been closed off from by White people. The emphasis by the Nation of Islam on education, as well, served to add dignity into Black women’s lives. Although it should be noted, the heavy implication of the photograph’s tagline is that a woman should be educated first, by a man. She is not independent from him, but rather dependent on him.
The image also holds a specific spot for men in the family, as the photo shows the father as large and imposing–clearly the head of the household. Unlike the woman, who is staring at the camera, his head is bowed to his book. To his right, another man stands with his hands collapsed in front of him almost like a soldier on guard, seemingly protecting the women of the family. For men, the patriarchal values of the Nation of Islam were a way for them to take back power in their lives, which was dominated by a feeling of helplessness at the violent hands of White people. “With their women in check, strong Black Muslim men could shame emasculated white American men in crisis by exerting their own power and virility, thus signifying the imminent possibility of Black political and cultural insurgency” (92). The Nation of Islam provided an outlet for these men to exert control over their wives and daughters, and to also feel a sense of superiority over their oppressors. Chan-Malik also talks about James Baldwin’s experience meeting Elijah Muhammad as follows: “Just as he feels the presence of a strong, protective, and effective father in Muhammad, he also experiences the power of “Islam” as a logic and space of racial-gendered belonging for Black men” (103). As the organization allowed Black men to feel power and independence in their lives, it also gave them a leader to follow and look towards–a leader that was in their eyes compassionate and accepting–whether that be Elijah Muhammad or God in their image. In this way, the men of the Nation of Islam saw themselves as protectors of women, but also as protected by their faith from a world which had abused and rejected them.
Overall, the Nation of Islam relied heavily on gender politics in its messaging and in its practice. Many members of the Nation of Islam found refuge from the “breakdown of the Black family” through their tightly held gender roles, which were influenced by and closely resembled the traditionally White patriarchal structure.
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