Intro to Mecca

For years now, Malcolm has lived under the beliefs of the Nation of Islam with this concrete idea of Islam being a segregated religion. He was taught that black men were the superior race and that the idea of blacks and whites living together was simply ridiculous and impossible. Therefore, this religion did not teach peace in America, it encouraged pure hate of other races. To Malcolm, these teachings were the basis of the Islam he knew.

However, during his pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm begins to realize something that was probably unimaginable to him before. He comes to this foreign land with this mistaken idea of what Islam is–as a religion that teaches separation between the races. But when he sees the brotherhood, the unity of all people living together as one in Mecca–the home of Islam–Malcolm is troubled. Contrary to what he saw and believed in America, the thought that Islam allowed people of all colors to live in harmony was shocking. Yet, beneath this surprise, his questioning of this strange reality, there is joy for Malcolm. There is anger that he's lived under the wrong assumption but there is joy because he realizes that brotherhood is possible. After seeing this unification of all people, Malcolm comes to believe that having a single religion, such as Islam–as practiced in Mecca–, is the key to unifying people despite their race; an idea that previously escaped him due to his stereotypical label of the "devil white man."