Malcolm X Research Paper

“I reflected many, many times to myself upon how the American Negro has been entirely brainwashed from ever seeing or thinking of himself, as he should, as a part of the nonwhite peoples of the world.” Malcolm realizes with that but I think that this brainwashing he is talking about goes for all American people or people period. T. He notices that most American people get brainwashed from an early age. Like for example, He uses a reference that such African Americans were brainwashed years ago back when slavery played a part. The white people were brainwashed by their parents to control the black people and blacks are bad and are not on the level as a white person. Malcolm wants everyone to be equal. He wanted them to not do what they are told

but do what they feel is right or what they desire. He expresses that freedom is important throughout this chapter and he goes to the origins of where this brainwashing activity began and how it was taught in a way that many would have not noticed. With the African Americans and slavery, he noticed that they could not be themselves in a sense where if they were smart they had to hide it from the whites and only use their knowledge in their homes. They were not as smart as they were back when Malcolm was alive so they did not think to try to overthrow the whites and rebel against but they just accepted it. Malcolm X wanted to give more fightback to give courage to the people to not continue to be brainwashed but to fight back.

“ By 1963 both the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X are inundated with publicity.

Now the second most sought-after university lecturer in America, Malcolm X savors the excitement of the intellectual confrontations that follow his speeches at top universities… America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.” Malcolm affected the world with this. He is putting the Nation of Islam on a pedal stool. Muslims are people who have a strong belief in Islam. As believers, they worship the One God and worship Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, as the last messenger of God. Additionally, they also believe in all the prophets which preceded Prophet Muhammad and the holy books which they brought, such as the Psalms, Torah, and the Gospel. Christianity was the white man's religion, declared Fard. It was forced on African Americans during the slave experience. Islam was closer to African roots and identity. Members of the Nation of Islam read the Koran, worship Allah as their God, and accept Muhammad as their chief prophet. Mixed with the religious tenets of Islam were Black Pride and Black Nationalism. The Nation of Islam attracted many followers, especially in prisons, where lost African Americans most looked for guidance. They preached adherence to a strict moral code and reliance on other African

Americans.

Malcolm reveals his continued faith in Islam as a potential source for social change in America, but also reveals the difference between his experience of Middle Eastern Islam and the form of Islam he has practiced in the United States. He uses the practice of Islam to try to promote blacks to use it as a spiritual, self motivating, and economical changing culture. He lives close to the white people without race becoming a factor and he sees it as if he can do it, then every black person should be able to do it. As Martin Luther King preached his gospel of peaceful change and integration in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Malcolm X delivered a different message: whites were not to be trusted. He called on African Americans to be proud of their heritage and to set up strong communities without the help of white Americans.