Malcolm X Thesis

Malcolm X

The history of the United States has in it much separation or segregation due to race. For a long time our country has seen racism as a large problem and this has caused ethnic groups to be looked down upon or forced into a lifestyle of difficulties and suppression. Due to this, races, particularly African-Americans, have been forced to deal with unequal opportunity and poverty, leading to less honorable ways of getting by and also organizations that support change. Malcolm X is one strong example of a colored man who fell into this type of hate and acted against it, uniting people to promote the advancement of colored people and change.

At a young age, Malcolm saw the ways in which blacks were seen as inferior, when his father supported an organization that promoted the return of blacks to Africa. Malcolm watched at a young age while the Klu Klux Klan burnt down his family's house, he also knew of his grandmother being raped by a white man, which caused his mother's light skin and his red hair. His father was killed when six white men beat him to death because they did not like what his father was doing in his organization. This was the early stage in like in which Malcolm's hatred of white people begins. I believe that the high point of Malcolm's hatred for white people comes when the welfare agency declares his mother insane and institutionalizes her, causing his family to be split apart. Malcolm blames the welfare agency for splitting up his family for the rest of his life. Even when he moves in with a white foster family, he is taught at school that black people are seen as lazy and dumb and will never be completely successful in this society, no matter how smart or gifted they are.

"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 X

Malcolm begins to realize that all the white people surrounding him as constantly either indirectly or directly telling him that he does not belong in their world, and they would not let him in even if he was qualified, due to his color. At this point he knows he must leave this area and leaves his foster home to live with his sister in Boston. Although Malcolm finds work, they are dead end jobs and this leads him to have to earn money in less acceptable ways such as drugs, betting, and stealing. This is how many problems occur in poor black communities today, due to the lack of choice and opportunity for advancement. Many years of this cause him danger and drug addiction until finally he ends up in jail and his transformation begins. Malcolm meets a man named Bibi and after listening to him talk begins to study many intellectually subjects. He became particularly intrigued with the ideas of a man named Elijah Muhammad. This man founded the Nation of Islam, which Malcolm joins after getting out on parole. From here, Malcolm becomes a powerful influence and believes completely in the teachings of this form of Islam. He avidly tried to gain members and eventually becomes an important symbol to the faith due to his powerful speaking abilities.

"America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases