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Malcolm x background and upbringing essay
Brief bio on malcolm x
Malcolm x ideas and beliefs
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Malcom X’s outlook on race goes through many stages of change throughout his life. As a child, Malcom X was immediately categorized as black and poor, therefore being a lower class citizen and creating a lack of exposure and diversity of ideologies. As he grows up and meets new people he is introduced to different lifestyles and for once has an opportunity to choose what kind of life he is going to lead. This creates a young man who does not his own identity and is soul searching. Ideas are introduced to him slowly. Everybody he meets has something new and exciting to offer to him.
Malcom X was born on the very light skinned. His family liked this quality bout him, as stated in chapter one. This belief that lighter skin is better was not a
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He later gets arrested and gets betrayed by white girls, further making his view of whites a negative one. While in jail, Malcom’s sister introduced him to a version of Islam intended for blacks. This new belief intrigued him and gave him a faith and something to believe in. He believed this to be true, because it gives him something to believe in that allows him to understand why white people are as brutal as they are. In this version of Islam, Elijah Muhammad explains that the “white race was created by an evil scientist named Yakub.” And that “the blacks who came with Yakub to the island were placed under a system of laws by which mating was based on skin color and in which only lighter-complexioned babies were allowed to survive.” This idea now put the ball in Malcom’s field and gave him reason to believe that his race was superior.
When Malcom gets out of jail he starts preaching Elijah’s teachings and becomes an influential figure to black people who are looking for answers. Malcom was preaching reversed racism. Unlike his beliefs as a child, that light skin was better, now he believed that black people were better and put in a world with a “devil race.” He is now not only a religious figure, but a civil rights leader as well. He preaches through the deprecation of other races to make himself and his followers feel better about themselves and their
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He goes through many changes and each change has a different outlook on race and class structure. He starts off with a racist view that whites are better, than a reverse racist view that blacks are better and then finds the balance and thinks that all races are equal and decides to leave his religion out of his teaching. No matter what people say about his racism and his credibility, he has been on both sides of the spectrum concerning race and ended right where he needed to be. With no racism and the belief that everybody should live together in
In this essay “Saved,”’ by Malcolm X. Malcolm is talking about how he went to prison and how that made him want to improve his language. So he got a holed of a dictionary and read it. while doing this, he though to himself he also could improve his hand writing so when he would read the dictionary he would also write down what he read. than he would read what he wrote down out loud, this made him a faster writer and a good reader. Now because of this, Malcolm loved reading he said he would stay up all night reading and only would get 4 to 5 hours of sleep, but that was all he needed.
Malcolm believed that Negro in America were lost. He was a strong advocate for tying race religion and together. “We don’t separate our color from our religion ”(25pg ). Islam is the native religion of black people, but when they
The autobiography of Malcolm X written by Alex Haley tells a wonderful story of a boy who grew up to be a legendary hero. Malcolm Xs character continuously develops throughout the entire novel, allowing the reader to be engaged in his story. The beginning of the text begins with the story of the past, when his mother was pregnant, and instantly the author brings in violence that include the Ku Klux Klan and the description of fear is already being portrayed. Chapter one is titled "nightmare "in this chapter not only does the reader already acknowledge struggle but there is also a background of his father. Over the course of chapter you see Malcolm Xs character develop mostly because his entire perspective constantly changes due to being around
The central ideas of: Racial tensions, racial identity, and systemic oppression, all assist in revealing the author’s purpose. As Malcolm changes throughout the story, his wordhoard and usage of various terms changes as well as the structure of sentences. From half-sentences to long blocks of text, Malcolm’s status also affected the style and structure of his writing; If Malcolm was in a party, the structure would consist of small half sentences as opposed to if Malcolm was telling scenery of a bar in which he would use long descriptive sentences of the setting. Throughout all the chapters, the author was capable of placing vivid images and allowing the reader to experience all the problems and threats Malcolm had to deal
In the book, “Rereading America” by, Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, it starts off on page 210 describing a well educated Black Man of the times in 1960s. “Born Malcolm Little; Malcolm X was one of the most articulate and powerful leaders of Black America during the 1960s. A street hustler convicted of robbery in 1946, he spent seven years in prison, where he educated himself and became a disciple of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam” (p.210). Here I want to focus on the strength of a single black man in the 60’s and what it was like to be uneducated as an African American. The many struggles of a black person in general were enough, but a black man had it hard.
Malcolm X was often encountered by Muslims from other countries who wished to “enlighten” him with what they felt was true Islam. He was initially very skeptical towards these claims but eventually his curiosity got the better of him. To get to know the religion better, Malcolm was directed by his friends to an Egyptian professor in New York, Dr. Mahmoud Youssef
autobiography. He also illustrates his early experiences of segregation, as early as before he was born:
In all three stories, Black Boy, Black Caesar and Malcolm X, there are black male characters who experience growing up in racist societies, and who witness the importance of their extended families. Richard, Tommy and Malcolm respectively, become the men they were through these childhood experiences and these experiences mold them into becoming who they were as adults. Although each of these men experienced both racism and the importance of extended family and the black community, they all turned out to be somewhat different.
Before, Malcolm believed that all white people were the devil, even the ones who did not have issues with the blacks. He believed that racism was so deeply rooted in them, that even if they claimed to not be a racist, if put in the position where his status was threatened by the black man, he would find away to make himself better. However, this perception of white people changed—“I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed, while praying to the same God, with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, and whose hair was the blondest of blonde, and whose skin was the whitest of white.” (p.347). Malcolm realized that in Mecca, people did not pay attention to someone’s race because they were all there to worship the same God. This event shows systemic oppression in the text contrasting the different societies in America and Mecca. In America, if one were black, they would have a certain standard to which they had to live by. In Mecca, race did not matter and it was over looked—people were not expected to fit into a certain class and act particular way based on the color of their
He believes an African American being accepted into a white university is as big of a crisis as a war. “They will never submit to the moral degradation, to the shame and the ruin which have faced all others who have lacked the courage to defend their beliefs. I have made my position on this matter crystal clear. I have said in every county in Mississippi that no school in our state will be integrated while I am your Governor.” (Doc 2)
Both Martin and Malcolm had weaknesses just as much as strengths. The first point they both missed was sexism. Sexism is a major problem and is just as evil as racism. Martin and Malcolm were sexist men. Both believed that the women’s place was in the home, the private sphere, and the man’s place was in society, the public arena, fighting for justice on behalf of women and children. Malcolm was worse about this issue and stated, “the true nature of a man is to be strong, and a woman’s true nature is to be weak.” He was believed to be misogynic which made him have a negative attitude toward women. Many black men are embarrassed by what Malcolm and Martin said and thought about women back in the day. The focus on “manhood” was one of the main reasons for the low visibility of black women in civil rights and black national organizations. Over time, however, black women joined the movement: Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Jo Ann Robinson, Mary Fair Burks and other women of the Women’s Political Council. Martin and Malcolm’s views changed over the course of their work influenced by their wives and women leaders within the movement. The second topic they both
Malcolm X should be everyone’s hero, someone people like myself should look up to as a human being. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either a racist or is extremely ignorant. Malcolm X wore his heart on his sleeve and whether right or wrong he was never afraid to say what was on his mind to anyone who cared to listen. I personally believe Malcolm X’s beliefs give me strength to do what's right and carry myself with dignity. I remember, as a kid, my parents had tons of books about Black History books. The first book I read was a Malcolm X biography. I realized Malcolm X was truly a powerful, significant, and essential work for all time.
Considering the circumstance of racial inequality during the time of this novel many blacks were the target of crime and hatred. Aside from an incident in his youth, The Ex-Colored Man avoids coming in contact with “brutality and savagery” inflicted on the black race (Johnson 101). Perhaps this is a result of his superficial white appearance as a mulatto. During one of his travels, the narrator observes a Southern lynching in which he describes the sight of “slowly burning t...
...ica. Anna Hartwell states, “Christianity occupies a central place in Malcolm’s account of white supremacy, in both its global and domestic incarnations” (Hartwell). She also states, “Against this Christian tainted legacy, Malcolm X counterpoises Islam as “the true religion of the black man”. Islamic universalism proffered for him an alternative to U.S. citizenship, which had constantly failed to live up to its promises for African Americans” (Hartwell). Malcolm X had an understandable dislike of the system of white supremacy because it is a system that thrives from people being on the bottom who have higher percentages of taxes taken out paychecks even though they make far less than everyone else. The thing about white supremacy is that it affects in a negative way poor people of all colors, but black people suffer the most for obvious reasons. This was the message
Malcolm X was a great Civil Rights leader that was ahead of his time, dealing with the inequalities and the black struggle of the 1960's. The 1960's was an era that defined the black race as a lower status than the white race merely based on color. Malcolm X defined race through his Muslim religion believing that blacks would one day reign supreme if only they accepted Allah as God, took Islam as their only religion, and followed the honorable Elijah Muhammad as their messenger. He also believed that the White race was ungodly and they were doomed for their unjust rule unable to accept Allah because of there evil nature. Clearly X's definition of race was that the Black race was "good" and "godly", and the White race was wrong and evil. This idea of race was taken from author David Howard Pitney's book, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and the Struggle of the 1950s and the 1960s A Brief History with Documents. The main source document of these ideas is based on one of "Malcolm's classic, fiery denunciations, as spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, of white America and the Western word" (Pitney113). Called "From God's Judgments of White America". The strengths of Malcolm X s approach towards his definition of race appealed to Black America by giving hope to the struggle of the civil rights movement. However, the weakness of his approach was one-sided alienating the white race, non-violent black people taking part in the Civil Rights struggle, and all other religions besides Islam. Malcolm X's intended audience for his views on race were the American people of the 1960's during the civil rights movement and all future generations of America. Malcolm X's views both fit into and countered the views of the time.