African-American Separatism.

http://www.noi.org/muslim_program.htm

This link is to the list of requests by the Nation of Islam, an organisation set up to assist African American people  in becoming independent and to improve the social, economic and mental condition of African American people.  

On their website they have a list of 10 request some of which are asking for equality and freedom, for example their first request is that they want complete freedom. This can be seen as perfectly understandable, however, it doesn’t say to what extend they want freedom, they say complete freedom, but does that mean freedom from punishment, freedom from the laws of America? They do not specify to what extent they demand freedom too.

Another request they make is for equal education, that on it’s own is understandable, however, their idea of equal education is for African American children to have their own schools and colleges, for the schools to have their own teachers and for the schools to be able to teach what they choose to teach the children. And they request that all equipment needed for the school for example books, is to be paid for by the government. This is an example of an ideal of African American separation, they don’t want their children to mix with children of other races. Also, it goes against their second request which is to become equal, this does not seem to want black children to be equal to white children, but for black children to be an exception.

Their final request is for no interracial marriages, this is another example of a want to be separate from other races and the message it gives out is for African American Separation. 

From an interview by Minister Louis Farrakhan who is the current leader of the Nation of Islam, he states that their main aims is that unless their requests are met, for example; all African American people to become completely free, have equal justice and equal opportunities, then the Nation of Islam will demand a state or piece of land for them to build their own society. This suggests that they only want African American Separatism only as a last resort, that if they are not able to become free and equal under what seems to be their standards then they should be separate. However, their demands and their idea of equality have strong ideas of Separation already, for example separation of races in education