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Essays about malcolm x and the civil rights movement
Malcolm X and the civil rights movement
Essays about malcolm x and the civil rights movement
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Philosophical Views Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X is a book that illustrate the philosophical concepts of Malcolm that promotes the uprise of anybody that is black. An inside look of the the Autobiography, Describes the path Malcolm X had to endure to create a plan to stop oppression of Black people in America and also other races non-white. He understood that power relies in numbers, so for him, it is not logical to limit his battle for justice to black individuals while there are millions of people that stand to gain from struggling in the battle of racial oppression. He also understood to end racial oppression in the world he must elevate the minds of his race first.
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The white people around Malcolm consistently views and treats Malcolm as an animal instead of the human he has the right to be. Malcolm's ambitions to change this acknowledgment drives his fight for human justice for blacks. He experiences unpretentious racism in his childhood from his family and school, who treat him in a different way from others because he is light-skinned. Malcolm foster parents and a couple of the people he encounters in school treats him different in a good manner. Malcolm concluded that these treated him wonderfully in order to show that they are not dehumanizing him and not racist. He feels that they are playing him for a fool because different, in a way that he refers to a "pink poodle." Malcolm thusly dehumanizes certain white people as revenge for the racism he has felt over the years. In Boston, he demonstrates on his white sweetheart Sophia as a status picture, seeing her less as a person than and more like a piece of property he owns. This shows Malcolm the power of dehumanization as if he was European. After years of practicing anti-white behavior for years, Malcolm finally meets white people that treats him as equal, and begins to acknowledge some white individuals as humans. This experience leads him to realize to true power dehumanization has furthering the drive to change this injustice action, once and for
The purpose is to further develop the character of Malcolm and the ethos, pathos, and logos expressed within the novel. The style and content all contributes to the power and beauty of the text. His narrative techniques include foreshadowing, for example in a previous chapter you see Malcolm 's relationship with his younger brother Reginald, really begin to grow and this central idea express his feelings, he seems to think very highly of Reginald and what he does. He states that he is mature for his young age, and comes across as a very intelligent put together person. Malcolm is what seems to be the reason why his brother is the way he expresses himself to be because he is a good Rolodex towards him and clearly plays a big role in his life. Malcolm 's character really develops as a leader. In chapter nine, he practically knows he will be assassinated, he really expects to make history and seems to strive to understand, Malcolm throughout the entire book seeks to know the meaning of why we as human beings are labeled and separated. Merely because we do not all look alike, and in this chapter, the author tells the story of “true knowledge” and this is where the dialogue really makes the chapter an incredible and shocking read. He speaks of the “black man,
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told by Alex Haley is about a man who changed the history of America. Malcolm (Little) X preached what he believed about racism, discrimination, and segregation. He went through many changes in his fight for equality. The three transformations that really changed the way Malcolm thought and preached where his transformation in prison, his transformation into the Islamic religion (following Elijah Muhammad), and the biggest transformation of all, his pilgrimage to Mecca. In all of Malcolm actions, teachings and transformations we learn different points of view and we get a good look at different aspects of events. The life of Malcolm (Little) X as told in his autobiography should be read by all.
Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.
If there was any one man who demonstrated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. The African American cultural movement of the 1920s lost momentum in the 1930s because of worldwide economic depression. The Great Depression helped to divert attention from cultural to economic matters. Even before the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment and poverty among blacks was exceptionally high. It was under these difficult conditions that Malcolm X experienced his youth in the South. Malcolm X was a very controversial character in his time. He grew up in a very large family. His father hunted rabbits to sell to the white people for money, and his mother stayed home to take care of all the children. Several times when he was young, his family was forced to relocate due to the racist groups that would burn or run them out of their home like the Ku Klux Klan. One of these groups called the Black Legion killed his father by tying him to the railroad tracks. Malcolm’s father had life insurance but was not given to his family because they said that Earl Little had committed suicide. This was quite impossible because his head was bashed in and he tied himself to the railroad. Without his father’s income, Malcolm's family was forced to get government help and food. Applying for this type of assistance brought many white Social Workers into their home. They asked questions and interrogated the entire family. Malcolm’s mother always refused to talk or let them in.
In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” book, Malcolm X suffers to courageously advocate for the rights of blacks. He was a human rights activist. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. Malcolm focuses on how racism against blacks dehumanizes them. The Caucasoid race around Malcolm typically read him as one thing but human, and Malcolm’s need to correct this perception drives his fight for racial equality. He experiences delicate racism in his youth from his family and faculty, United Nations agency treat him otherwise from others as a result of him being black. Although his foster folks and a few of the people he encounters in class square are nice to him, Malcolm thinks these folks treat him nicely so as to point out however unprejudiced they are. He feels that they 're mistreatment of him as a result that he 's completely different, as if he were a “pink poodle.” At the start Malcolm successively dehumanizes the Caucasoid race as revenge for his own subjugation. In Boston, he displays his white girlfriend Sophia as a
This paper is written to give my personal reflection on a book entitled The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It is one of the assignments for EDC3360 Course, Social Work for Community Service. We were asked to read this book because the content of this book has relation with the course we are taken for the current semester.
The book begins in young Malcolm’s life, when he was then known as Malcolm Little. His last name, Little, is a last name given to an ancestor by a white slave owner. Malcolm is born in Omaha, Nebraska, right in the thick of Midwest discrimination and racial violence. At a young age Malcolm and his family move to Lansing, Michigan in hopes to evade the violence and discrimination. Hardship continues as Malcolm’s father, a preacher, is murdered by more white supremacists. It does not stop here unfortunately, Malcolm’s mother is deemed unfit to care for her kids, quickly losing a mental health battle that winds her up in a mental hospital. This gives reason for Malcolm to be taken in by the Swerlins, a white
Ostrowski, his eighth grade teacher. Despite being the top of his class his teacher discouraged him from becoming a lawyer, saying “A lawyer - that’s no realistic goal for a nigger. You need to think about something you can be.” This statement changes Malcolm’s perception of the people around him. Malcolm begins to notice how all the white people he is surrounded by treat him. “It was then that I began to change—inside. I drew away from white people.” Malcolm no longer accepts it when people call him “nigger.” He also has a general feeling of unease around white people and people are constantly asking him “What’s wrong?” until he goes to Boston. This shows how he becomes aware of the inequalities faced by black people in America, even among the “nice white people” who like him and try to treat him well. From this point forward Malcolm has a general distrust of white people unless they prove that he should believe
He even notices this change within himself – “It was then I began to change—inside. I drew away from white people…nobody, including the teachers could decide what had come over me. I was being discussed.” (p. 39). Not only is this a major event for Malcolm’s character development, but it also conveys the central idea of systemic oppression in the text. Malcolm was an intelligent kid and had higher marks than most of the kids in his school. However, his teacher told him “A lawyer—that’s no realistic goal for a nigger.” (p.38). Systemic oppression is developed in this text because no matter how intelligent a black person was, they could not be as successful as a white
In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” the author skillfully structures each chapter to correspond with Malcolm’s development and implants a sense of purpose throughout each event.
Malcolm X is an important figure in human history because he was a human rights activist and fought for equality among people. He was a proficient public speaker who spoke for minorities, mostly African Americans. By reading Malcolm X’s story, I visualize on how a man suffered from the effects of prejudice and his whole disposition was formed from it. I see how a very angry man stayed angry at the "white devils" f...
“I’m for the truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole” (X). This quote by Malcolm X represented his attitude towards equality and self-empowerment. The true Malcolm X was a passionate human rights activist as well as an extremely outspoken man during the fifties and sixties. X encouraged millions of African Americans to fight for what they believed in and to take pride in their ethnicity. X persuaded a multitude of African Americans that they are supreme and should not be degraded for their skin color. He learned at a very early age if he wanted something in life, he had to make some noise
This paper will discuss the different stages of thought processes the former Nation of Islam minister, Malcolm X went through during his lifetime in terms of how he viewed white people, but more specifically “the white man” in America. The reason the focus is on White Americans is because these were the people outside of the Nation of Islam that shaped his life good or bad and put him on the path where he eventually transformed from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X who was one of the most polarizing and controversial figures during his lifetime and even nearly 50 years after his death the name Malcolm X causes certain people to shudder. Malcolm X became a well-known figure during the 50’s and 60’s during the civil rights movement which involved figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. This was a pivotal era in American history because for the first time that there was major push towards full rights for African Americans. When Malcolm X came on the scene he put fear into White people because they weren’t used to hearing the truth about race relations in America and many of them felt that things were just fine because they themselves were living life high on the hog while at the same time exploiting Blacks. Because this type of talk from a black person was new to them they misinterpreted his views as “hate speech” and accused him of trying to incite violence when he was simply trying wake his people up to properly deal with what was happening to them.
Malcolm Little, born in Omaha, NE on May 19, 1925 has been dealing with racism before he was even born. When Louise Little was pregnant with Malcolm they used to get many death threats and harsh treatment from racist groups such as the KKK. When Malcolm was around 6 years old his house was bombed while everyone was asleep luckily everyone managed to escape unharmed.
Malcolm X's multiple points of view, organization, and diction in his powerful and passionate overview of his life give the reader a more diverse reading and learning experience that they can easily understand.