Malcolm X is to be considered one of the more famous radicals during the civil rights movement in the United States. In the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X As Told to Alex Haley, the life story of Malcolm X is told and how difficult his life was. Malcolm is the only major character in this book, yes there are other characters and events that contribute to his hatred towards white people. Although Malcolm always on some level hated white people he frequently changes his views during his lifetime. Each different point of life he goes by a different name such as Malcolm Little, Detroit Red, Satan, Malcolm X, and El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Each time Malcolm changed his name his changed his persona as well and each event either was an example of systemic oppression or separation v. integration. …show more content…
Malcolm silently just sits back and watches as his childhood is slowly being taken away from him. Not only was his childhood taken away because of the color of his skin but he also lost his father because of how bad the racism was, even his mother who was white was even taken away from her kids. However what really opens Malcolm's eyes to how awful people were to each other just because of the color of their skin, is when Malcolm told his junior high school teacher he wanted to be a lawyer. If Malcolm was white his teacher would have supported him however because he was colored he told Malcolm "be realistic... a negro can't be a lawyer...why don't you plan on carpentry?" (page 38, chpt. 2). Even though some white people were nice to colored people they still thought lesser of them. This is a perfect example of systemic oppression. These events that occurred during his early life later play a major part of the reason why Malcolm becomes so obsessed with racial politics in
As a child, Malcolm experience not only but violence of whites but also the violence of his mother and father against each other and seven brothers and sisters and himself. While Martin could scarcely recollect his mother and father quarreling Malcolm parents continuously appear to
Introduction Malcolm X was a revolutionary leader who dedicated his life to the rights of African Americans. He fought for his people's rights and racial justice in the United States. The autobiography is a powerful story of one man’s journey from a life of crime and violence to becoming an influential leader in the civil rights movement. This book provides insight into the challenges he faced and what it took him to become a well-known leader. Malcolm X’s identity is explored through his struggles with racism and poverty, as well as his search for self-discovery.
1960s. During this time in the United States, African Americans experienced and were treated unfairly because of their race. Malcolm X’s father was killed by white supremacists. When Malcolm X was in junior high school, his white teacher told him that he could not be a lawyer and should be more “realistic” and be a carpenter. After eighth grade, Malcolm continued a life of crime.
Since I already had somewhat background information, I decided that it was best if I wrote my essay specifically about him. I was also curious to know about his last him, after his release from Charlestown Prison; he changed his name to Malcolm X, and the X symbolized the unidentified name of his African ancestors and their tradition that had been lost during slavery. After viewing this film, my opinion changed about how one’s life is affected by so much negativity can drastically improve just by having the right people in your life, I simply learned that is never too late to realize the mistakes one has made and how to fix them. Even after dropping West Junior High School at the age of 15, he was an addict to drugs, went to jail and had no parents support, he now has a position in where an entire film is made about his life. The historical significance of this film is that it is about a man who contributed so much to society, Malcolm X is now known as the African-American leader and is an important figure worldwide, and he also articulated concepts of Black Nationalism in the 1950s and
Malcolm X’s main motives for black rage were because of his adherent love for a race he viewed as devalued by all of society at this time, a race who was constantly degraded despite their astonishing characteristics, intelligence, and beauty.
The book* kept very loyal to the character of Malcolm X, even though he was only mentioned in a conversation. They described him as a radical speaker in the civil rights movement. The characters spoke about him like that weird kid in the class that nobody talks to**, like he was a person the did not want to follow, instead trying to bring Martin Luther King Jr. to their town to hold a protest. In other words, like people in the real world thought about him.
Philosophical differences between martin luther king and malcolm X The philosophical differences between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X have to do with the their protest strategies. MLK never fought with violence. Although he would get physically attacked, he stood his ground and continued to fight for equality peacefully. King believed that whites and blacks should come together to end the hate and violence.
When he joined the Nation of Islam, he changed his family name from “Little” to “X” as it was “a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders” (1). Malcolm benefited the organization by being a spokesman and expanding the movement (“Malcolm X.” History. History Channel, n.d 1). He “became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston” (“Malcolm X Biography” 1). “An articulate public speaker, a charismatic personality, and an indefatigable organizer, Malcolm X expressed the pent-up anger, frustration, and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965”
Although this creates an immediate negative environment urging Malcolm to form his own views and eventually be led to create the Organization of the Afro-American Movement. The encyclopedia also notes that Malcolm’s
Malcolm X was a Muslim minister who was also African American. He was a activist for human rights, Malcolm was a bold and courageous spokesperson for blacks to have rights,Malcolm X declared America “white America” to have the most harshest of terms for it’s tenacious treatments against African Americans. In the year 1946, he was sentenced to prison because he was caught breaking and entering. When he was incarcerated, he was chosen to become a member of the Nation of Islam. This is when he changed his birth name from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X. Later he had written,”Little was the name that the white slave master … had imposed upon paternal forebears” After his parole in 1952 his popularity grew and became the organization 's most influential leaders, and served as the public face of the controversial group for a dozen years.
Due to Malcolm X’s struggles in his early life, he dealt with an internal anger and resentment towards the white race, which lead to him rebelling and acting out. When Malcolm X was only 6 years old, criminals murdered his father and sparked an internal flame of hatred. His anger convinced him to commit various crimes such as stealing. This acted as a way to rebel against his family and the white community; he would not accept going unnoticed, nor would he accept others as they treated him as inferior. Not only did young Malcolm steal, but he also fought frequently with his family members.
Was a Human right activist and a member of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm is a revolutionary who supported Black Nationalism. He was considered a hero among the Black Panther Party. Malcolm X is today a revolutionary icon that some African-Americans (and many other people) are influenced by. This relates to the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” is that of racial segregation is prevalent in the story.
After he went to Mecca his philosophy about the use of violence change after encountering a wide variety of different races who are all Muslim from the places he visited. Malcolm X views of whites had changed because before visiting Mecca, he believed the whites are “devils”, but after he went to Mecca his views on whites had
Malcolm’s speeches acted more as instruments of provocation than conversion. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign, Malcolm’s campaign around the country was a direct assault and it was difficult to see any oppressor that will tolerate such. This obviously accounted for the many police brutalities, imprisonment and deaths among the black race. Malcolm X symbolized black dominance and self-respect, he was one of the greatest forces that shaped the current understanding and interpretation given to conflict and violence in the world politics today. If Malcolm were to live in this era, he would be labeled as a terrorist (http://malcolmx.com/).
Without Malcolm, the White people would have not favored Martin Luther King Jr. over other Civil Rights leaders. Towards the end of Malcolm’s life, Martin Luther King Jr. began to become more like Malcolm in a militant way. Martin Luther king Jr. “was also re-evaluating his presuppositions and was moving toward a greater understanding of Malcolm X, especially regarding black pride, separatism, and White America’s lack of commitment to genuine black equality” (Cone, 1992, p. 256). These transformations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas, likely led him to accomplish the revolution of Civil Rights. Although, this is a possibility, it is extremely unrealistic.