NEW YORK — In a city where statues and schools have been named after one-time pimps, slave owners and wagers of war, it is not at all surprising that a street could be named for a man who called white people “blue-eyed devils.”
No effort to honor Elijah Muhammad, the fiery and controversial Nation of Islam leader, is going to happen in New York City or anywhere without some spirited debate.
To opponents, he was a hate-filled separatist whose soft-spoken speech belied the dangerous ramblings of a cult-leading demagogue.
