The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as presented by Malcolm and Alex Haley, gives a history of the life of the great Malcolm Earl. The birth of Malcolm introduced him to the tragedy that was hitting America. The split between the whites and the blacks, commonly referred to as the Negroes was widening day in day out. The events that Malcolm went through both as a child and at his ripe age contributed to his development as a champion for black resistance. The autobiography is not persuasive but attempts to put across the ideas that Malcolm had concerning the white supremacy and the successful establishment of his ideologies despite the challenges that life brought to his side. The book is written from the viewpoint of Malcolm X, and the reader should be aware that the opinions of Malcolm could change their perspective towards the whites. In a story condensed into nineteen chapters, the author has put across the transformations that Malcolm went through due to the racism that had hit America. The author also successfully brings on board the ideologies of Elijah Muhammad, who is not the main character but is a role model to Malcolm.
The events that happened before and after the birth of Malcolm X contributed to his eventual growth as an activist. The early life of Malcolm was surrounded by events that proved to him the claim that was spreading among the blacks concerning the evil nature of the whites. First, Malcolm’s mother was a product of rape from an unknown white man. Malcolm’s grandmother had no power to seek justice after the instance, maybe because the circumstances allowed the whites to harass the blacks at will without any help for the blacks. The attack that happened to Earl’s house when Malcolm was still young was also an act of violence from the black legion who accused Earl of spreading hatred among the good Negroes. The attack forced Earl to flee with his family to a different city, and this exposed Malcolm to interacting with the Swerlins. Although the Swerlins were generous and good-hearted, Malcolm did not feel comfortable, and clearly, he had become an activist at his young age. Also, the meetings that Malcolm attended with his father, who was preaching Garveyism led to a transformation, and Malcolm was convinced beyond doubt that the blacks needed to be treated better than was the case. Also, the events that surrounded the death of Earl, Malcolm’s father can be said to have triggered Malcolm’s activism.
The whites were inhuman and did not give heed to the rights of the blacks. For example, the death of Malcolm’s father was ignored, and instead, Earl was blamed for committing suicide. An insurance company that Earl had paid for the cover of his family in the event of his death failed to pay his family by treating the cause of the death as a suicide. Malcolm and his family were aware of the fact that the Black Legion group killed Earl for his firm stand against the discrimination of blacks. The death of his father moved Malcolm and even at his ripe age, Malcolm was not afraid of being killed because he was sure that his death would be violent and he was ready for it when the time came. The experiences in prison exposed Malcolm to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and later, Malcolm decided to follow Elijah and help in recruiting people to the Nation of Islam. The death of Malcolm was just as he had prophesied since he was assassinated during a speech.
Malcolm was unfortunate having brought up in a society that was dominated by one race over the other and where violence was only an issue when an individual from the inferior race. Malcolm was brought up seeing all the activities happening in his society. The whites had grown into believing that violence against the blacks was normal, but the blacks should not harm the whites. Even as a young boy, Malcolm had suffered under the hands of a white boy who took advantage of Malcolm’s hard-earned dollars and Malcolm later realized that the white race did not respect the blacks under any circumstances. When Malcolm was taken to the Swerlin family, the mentality of white supremacy had filled his mind, and he did not view the generosity of the white family as an issue to make him happy. Instead, Malcolm felt as if he was being treated as a pet and not a respectable human being. Also, the education system still insisted on white supremacy, and Malcolm was unable to complete his studies under the circumstances of the time. For example, Malcolm’s desire of becoming a lawyer was laughed off by his teacher, who instead advised Malcolm to choose carpentry since he was a black child. The mistreatments by the whites did not bring Malcolm up as an individual who would choose peace as a method of fighting for equality. Growing up under conditions that favored violence made Malcolm an opposite of his fellow leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King.
The Civil Rights Movement was divided in terms of the opinions of the leaders. The opinions of the leaders varied according to the upbringing of the leaders and the circumstances that had led to the leaders’ decision to advocate for civil rights. On one side of the movement was Martin Luther King who believed in the development of self-respect through peaceful means while on the other side was Malcolm X who believed that violence was the right path to take in the fight for equality. The opinions of each leader were right according to their point of view, although the leaders seemed to agree at various points. The first point of the agreement by the two leaders was that the whites were mistreating the blacks. Therefore, the leaders decided that it was time for something to be done to save the blacks from the continued oppression that had grown even inside the government. However, the leaders differed according to the way they addressed the issue.
Malcolm X believed that the whites were using Martin Luther King as a way of cooling the uprising of the black activism that was evident and vigilant. The move by Martin Luther King to use peace and gradually develop self-respect was seen as a way of creating a defenseless mentality among the blacks. Malcolm was used to using violence to get what he needed during his youthful days. At one point, Malcolm was a drug addict and formed a burglar gang to help him in stealing from the whites to earn a living. Malcolm was wise and bold enough to use the white girls to help him in gathering information about the white settlements and later break in at night to steal valuable items. Also, the experience at the prison developed Malcolm as a hater of the white race after interacting with other inmates and later accessing Elijah Muhammad’s teachings. The teachings by Elijah Muhammad created a perception in Malcolm X that the whites were evil and that nothing good could come from them. The teachings of Elijah Muhammad greatly influenced Malcolm’s thinking and his ideologies were based on violence and taking back the pride of the blacks.
The ideas in the Civil Rights Movement were meant to criticize the peaceful campaign by Martin Luther King. The Blacks were always reminded of not falling on the trap of the whites of not being vigilant in fighting for their rights (Harris, 2015). Segregation was the main idea preached by Malcolm X in his campaign, where he believed that Blacks were well off without the whites. For example, the blacks would desist from using the same buses used by the whites. Also, the blacks would boycott voting because it was seen as a way of fooling the blacks that equality was being considered in the states. A different section of the Civil Rights Movement, however, was for the point that Blacks should be allowed to interact with the whites without being forced to forego services that they needed. Some African-Americans were specifically indifferent concerning the methods used during the Civil Rights Movement. Some blacks believed that violence was the way to go if the blacks were to be respected. The era of President Roosevelt particularly changed the perception of several blacks who had been requested not to vote by the Malcolm X ideologies. Despite the different perceptions by the Americans, the goal of the Civil Rights Movement was to create an environment that was conducive for the rights of both the blacks and the whites. The respect of the blacks by the whites and the pride of the blacks in their identity was the desire of every leader. The Civil Rights Movement got an unlikely boost when the rates of unemployment among the blacks went significantly higher with the majority of Americans going for the unskilled jobs that the blacks had relied on in the previous years. The lack of jobs for the blacks was interpreted as a strategy by the white race to make life unbearable for the black race. The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement were therefore slowly getting support from the blacks who had initially been indifferent on the war against white supremacy.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was an indirect way of expressing the author’s support for the fight against white supremacy. Malcolm has remained as a pillar behind which the voice of the blacks lies, and the role model looked upon by several political activists. The assassination of Malcolm was not the end to his activist job, and his legacy has remained firm several years after his death. The US has not entirely healed from the impacts of racism, and several governments still talk about racism as an issue affecting the Americans. The blacks have been fighting against discrimination even in the current leadership.
References
Harris, F. C. (2015). The next civil rights movement?. Dissent, 62(3), 34-40.
Malcolm, X. (2015). The autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books.