SOURCE: "Malcolm X: History as Hope," in Time, Vol. 95, February 23, 1970, pp. 88, 90.

In the following essay, published on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Malcolm X 's assassination, the critic provides a synopsis of Malcolm X's life and works, and attempts to assess his legacy.

He was assassinated five years ago this week. Since then, assorted parks, streets and ghetto playgrounds have been named after him. His bespectacled face, ballooned to twice life-size, gazes owlishly from the walls of innumerable schools and youth clubs. Though he is sometimes described as an apostate and a monster, these days he is more often invoked, especially by young whites and blacks, as a martyr in the cause of brotherhood, and even a kind of saint.

To whites, the apotheosis at first seems unsettling. Many Americans recall Malcolm X only as a bad guy, known mainly for preaching racism. Is the continuing...