The NOI glorified women but severely limited their freedom. Their role was domestic and parental, and their purity was to be above reproach. However, critics pointed out that NOI leaders sometimes used women as sex objects; Elijah Muhammad himself allegedly fathered several illegitimate children.
The NOI flourished in the late 1950s and 1960s even as it stood in contrast to the Civil Rights Movement, which was led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and sought peaceful integration. During this period, one of the NOI's most charismatic leaders was Malcolm X, head of the Harlem Mosque; he was a former prison inmate and brilliant speaker who was especially effective in large groups and on television. One of his catch phrases was that the movement should fight white racism and violence "by any means necessary." Despite the popularity of Malcolm X, the NOI censured him in 1963 for his notorious remark that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was tantamount to "the chickens coming home to roost." Malcolm X left the NOI in 1964 and formed the OAAU. Many blamed the NOI when he was assassinated the next year.
The question of race was complicated in Harlem in the 1960s, and Lipsyte does not dodge the issue. Certainly we see the results of white racism against blacks in The Contender. But in the first chapter of the novel, we also see Major and his gang using racial slurs in an attempt to intimidate and manipulate Alfred. Even more blatant is their prejudice against Jews. Consistent with racial stereotypes, they accuse the Jewish grocers of indulging in greed ("They go pray for more dollars") and a modern form of slavery, exploiting black employees for mercenary purposes. When Alfred tries to defend the Epsteins, he only causes more problems. Major and his undisciplined gang would be a disgrace to the NOI, but many of the racial issues are the same.
