original people return to the Paradise from which they had been stolen.
Elijah indoctrinated his followers with the belief that the United States Government was of, by, and for the white man only, that the black people did not belong to America but were citizens of Mecca, and that, therefore, their allegiance belonged to the Muslim flag, which would give them freedom, justice, and equality, not to the American flag, which would bring them only slavery, injustice, and death.
By 1958, however, fearing possible Government prosecution, Elijah ordered his ministers to temper their militant teachings. Though not making any fundamental changes, he de-emphasized the religious aspects of the cult and stressed the economic benefits to be derived by those Negroes who joined the NOI.
During this same period, the NOI constantly emphasized the cult's efforts in the rehabilitation of Negro criminals, dope addicts, and alcoholics, by publicizing those who had joined the NOI and had bettered their position in society. The former leading spokesman of the cult, Malcolm X, who was assassinated in February, 1965, had been instrumental in spreading the claim that the NOI had had phenomenal success in rehabilitating these Negroes. Malcolm, who publicly acknowledged that he had been a narcotics addict and a criminal before joining the NOI, was a dynamic and evangelistic type of speaker who impressed many Negroes in the United States.
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