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Malcolm X’s grandson on Iranian television: Slavery continues in America

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Slavery is alive and well in America according to Malcolm X’s grandson, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.

According to the civil rights leader’s progeny, American prison populations are disproportionately black and Hispanic due to institutionalized racism, and that prison represents a form of slavery.

“[I]n these institutions people are forced to work for pennies on a dollar,” he said Monday in an exclusive interview with Press TV, Iran’s Tehran-based English language news network. Shabazz added that as long as there are classes in America there will continue to be slavery.

Shabazz’s comments were spurred by Press TV’s inquiry on his thoughts about the slaying of Florida teen Trayvon Martin, which Shabazz said represents an example of a larger problem with American society.

“There are hundreds of Black Americans who are being murdered in the United States every year with impunity. And police officers serve no time,” he said. “They always get off.”

According to Press TV, Shabazz went on to add that minorities in America would always be at the bottom until “the system” is fundamentally changed. He said such a shake-up is necessary because of the influence of a small group of people who manipulate the president and run the country.

“We should take down the system completely, and set up a new system of our own, which is more just,” he said.

Shabazz, however, expressed skepticism about whether the ‘Occupy’ movement was the right group to transform American society. He said he distrusted the origins of the Occupy movement in America and the recent uprisings in the Middle East, Press TV reported.

“My grandfather once stated that you should never join a movement unless you are completely aware what that movement is about because a lot of the time we have outside forces that orchestrate those movements and get us to do things which we would not ordinarily do,” he said.

Shabazz added that he believes 9/11 was not done at the hands of Muslims, but rather forces in America.

“And the people who were involved in 9/11 were agents of the United States, the CIA or whatever other three-letter organizations they have in this country,” he said.

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