Did Malcolm X's Impact On African American Integration

Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.

Once he was released from prison, he became one of the movements leading ministers. After years of single handedly caring for her six kids, Louis Little had been declared mentally insane and had been institutionalized, sending her kids to separate foster homes. In the eighth grade, Malcolm X was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. After answering with “a lawyer”, his teacher told him that his goal was “unrealistic for a nigger”.

In this rally it was the biggest African American rally that has ever been attended. Here Malcolm X talks about the discrimination and how African Americans have never been seen more than anything than just their skin color. He also made it clear that he wasn?t there as a democrat or a republican he wasn?t even there as an American because if he was the problem wouldn?t exist. Malcolm also continues how everything is so reliant on the white man and how that is not a good thing and change is necessary. #4 (Gonzalez)

The portrayal of black men, throughout history, has produced numerous negative stereotypes that hide the true agendas of black leaders. As Stephen Tuck exclaimed, in The Night Malcolm X Spoke at the Oxford Union, black leaders were often shown as extremist instead of leaders who wanted to bring about change for their oppressed communities. Malcom X’s speech and the material discussed in the work created by Tuck, show how Malcolm used diction, rhetoric and ethos to express the issue of the portrayal of blacks throughout media to create a false sense of character for black leaders and intellectuals. Malcolm X’s diction, style of speaking and writing, helps to create a sense of the realities that go in America.

In Malcolm’s situation he wasn’t able to have the education he felt he needed and started to from prison. Once he felt he had enough education he then became interest in his culture and started to realize that history stories he had known of didn’t exactly happened as he had thought. According to Malcolm “The teachings of Mr. Muhammad stressed how history had been “whitened” --- when white men had written history books, the black man simply had been left out.” What he means by this quote is that from what he had read Mr. Muhammad opened his eyes to how white men have pushed African Americans to the side and not want to include them as part of history. Malcolm then realized just how badly American Americans have been treated not just during slavery but all throughout history.

He portrays an activist ethos through his confrontation because he acts as the catalyst for change within his audience. Malcolm addresses his audience about passively allowing whites to prosper by stating, “The white man is too intelligent to let someone else come in and gain control of the economy of his community. But you will let anybody come in and take control of the economy of your community… under the pretext that you want to integrate. No, you’re out of your mind” (Malcolm X 212). This quote demonstrates motivation through confrontation because Malcolm uses the difference of the actions taken by each ethnic community in order to show African Americans that they are being submissive to the white community.

(West 140) West argues “[Malcolm X’s] claim is both subtle and problematic. It is subtle in that every black freedom movement is predicated on an affirmation of African humanity and a quest for black control over

Malcolm delivered this iconic speech in April 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio, to a black audience. The text argues that if black people can unite and become politically mature, they would “determine who's going to sit in the White House and who's going to be in the doghouse.” If that fails, violence will be inevitable. Malcolm employs repetition, contrast, metaphors, similes, and other rhetorical devices to elicit action from his audience. These tactics and Malcolm's intense tone combine to generate a sense of immense importance and urgency in Black society.

When he joined the Nation of Islam, he changed his family name from “Little” to “X” as it was “a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders” (1). Malcolm benefited the organization by being a spokesman and expanding the movement (“Malcolm X.” History. History Channel, n.d 1). He “became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston” (“Malcolm X Biography” 1). “An articulate public speaker, a charismatic personality, and an indefatigable organizer, Malcolm X expressed the pent-up anger, frustration, and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965”

This journal article belabours the point that is also a common theme in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”: Malcolm’s changing views on civil rights. Again as a result of his tumultuous childhood because of the “white man”, Malcolm generalizes all white people as essentially haters of blacks because of the negative experiences he’s had with them and the tragic ways they treated him. But, as he grows older and matures, Malcolm has the eye-opening experience of seeing people of all colors worship next to each other. This is an interaction between blacks and whites that creates a positive environment as an outcome.

Due to Malcolm X’s struggles in his early life, he dealt with an internal anger and resentment towards the white race, which lead to him rebelling and acting out. When Malcolm X was only 6 years old, criminals murdered his father and sparked an internal flame of hatred. His anger convinced him to commit various crimes such as stealing. This acted as a way to rebel against his family and the white community; he would not accept going unnoticed, nor would he accept others as they treated him as inferior. Not only did young Malcolm steal, but he also fought frequently with his family members.

The Story of Malcolm X Malcolm X was a Black rights activist during the 1960’s, he was regarded as a powerful speaker and a highly intelligent person. He was averse to blacks and white living in harmony, and spearheaded the black separatist movement. Malcolm X was not always the man that is taught to the public in history classes however, “Learning to read”, and excerpt from Malcolm X’s autobiography, recounts the tale of who Malcolm X was before he was well read, and how a prison’s library shaped views during the civil rights movement, and started fanning the flames for his racism.

Malcolm x informs other African American about how their culture had been stripped by whites and how they created and inspired

Malcolm was not a man who believed that the problem of the African Americans would be solved through a peaceful, quiet means and nuances, he believed the problem has graduated through the centuries and has come to a stage when the assertion of African Americans’ existence as humans has to be forcefully done or never. Malcolm’s methods were mainly campaigns and speeches aimed at restoring the dignity of the black man, his confidence in himself and a complete freedom as Americans

Over the course of the American history, black people were oppressed and treated unfairly. A few ways that society treated black people is by segregating them from white people, beating them up, and taking advantage of them. As a consequence, African Americans grew up in an environment were limited in their abilities, had hatred towards the white, and had a constant judgment from white people. These factors contributed towards the way society viewed African Americans, flawed, uneducated, and poor. Yet, a notable person who overcame these obstacles and made the most out of his experiences was Malcolm X. He made a dramatic change not only in American history but in African American rights.