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Malcolm X’s experience without the white people as he was growing up
brought him to what he believed of white people in his earlier years. He was able
to overcome many traumatic experiences in order to keep on going with his beliefs.
His message in his earlier years was somewhat harsh on the white population, but
in his later years he was carrying a good message towards them. Malcolm X
overcame many tough obstacles in his life to become one of America’s most
influential black leader of his time.
Malcolm X, or Malcolm Little as he was known in his childhood years, had
a very traumatic childhood. Encarta states that since his father was a Baptist at a
black church the Ku Klux Klan harassed his family often. This would have been
very scary for a child of Malcolm’s age at the time. This is probably one of the
reasons why he had a grudge against whites for the better part of his early years.
After Malcolm’s family broke up he lived with many different foster homes until
living with his sister in Boston (Schooling 2). As a kid it would be hard traveling
all over the country living with different parents every few months. It takes a really
emotionally strong person to put up with this type of change so often. His
childhood was pretty rough and one of the ways he delt with it was to resort to
crime.
Malcolm X got involved with all types of illegal activity with some really
dangerous people. He was narcotics, gambling, and pimping. He picked up the
name Detroit Red when he was involved with illegal activity in Detroit (Schooling
2). He had nowhere else to go or do but be involved with illegal businesses. He
formed his own house robbing gang, and he was caught and sentenced to ten years
in prison (Arnold and Gutierrez 15). This was in the long run probably the best
thing that happened to Malcolm’s whole life. Going to prison not only stopped him
from doing more illegal activity but also he learned about he Nation of Islam.
Malcolm’s learning’s of the Nation of Islam eventually led to his conversion of his
entire life.
After Malcolm X was poroled after seven years in prison he became a
member of the Nation of Islam, known as the Black Muslims, led by Elijah
Muhammad. Malcolm became the most popular spokesperson of the NOI , and
even started to become more popular than Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad became
very jealous of Malcolm X and was looking for some way to get rid of him. When
Malcolm spoke at a speech about John F. Kennedy’s assassination he said “the
chickens have come home to roost.” Muhammad silenced Malcolm for that remark
about JFK’s assassination (Encarta). Within the next few week Malcolm X left the
NOI and formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). The NOI got
Malcolm onto the right path as far as getting out of the criminal lifestyle.
When Malcolm left NOI he went to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
There he noticed how many cultures and races were getting along in uniting, and
then wondered why whites and blacks could get along. (Malcolm X: A Research
Site) From there on he totally changed his opinion of relations with the white race.
Instead of trying to separate the blacks and whites even more, he thought that they
should be able to get along together. Malcolm adopted the Arabic name El-Hajj
Malik El-Shabazz. (Arnold and Gutirrez 21) The NOI now viewed Malcolm as a
enemy and deemed him a hypocrite. Upon his return to the United States he had
numerous death treats. He was able to accept the fact that he was eventually going
to be murdered for his beliefs, but made sure his family was safe. Malcolm travels
to Mecca greatly influenced his views on how whites and blacks should get along.
When Malcolm returned to the United States he got back involved with the
OAAU. He spoke at OAAU rallies trying to get the rest of America to realize what
he experienced in Mecca. Many people who greatly disagreed with Malcolm’s
views were doing everything they could to make him leave the county (Myers 64).
It was becoming dangerous to do anything with his family without getting
harassed. It’s sad malcolm, who believes so strongly in his beliefs, that they are
constantly harassing him to the point where they wanted him dead. The NOI
sought Malcolm X as someone who was trying to destroy their beliefs to separate
whites and blacks (Andrew, Israels, and Winkler 230). But Malcolm stayed strong
in his new views and was determined to get his point across to the entire
population of America.
The tensions with the NOI and Malcolm X grew tighter with every day that
passed. His house was fire bombed while his family was inside, but Malcolm and
his family were able to get out safely (Malcolm X: A Research Site). It is amazing
for someone to be so committed to their beliefs that they will be willing to give
their own lives. This is one of Malcolm X’s more noble traits. It takes something
really special to put up with kind of harassment he was getting from numerous
people. On February 21, 1965 Malcolm X was addressing a OAAU rally when he
was shot and was killed (Encarta). The murderers were said to be from the NOI
but no links were found that fully support this theory. It was a shame that such a
noble man who stood up for what he believed in became a victim of such horrible
crime. Malcolm X stood for a lot of things, and one of them was for everyone to
live in harmony, which with his pioneering beliefs helped the Unites States get it to
where it is today.
Malcolm’s personality and philosophy changed significantly over the coarse
of his life. When he was a child he was known as Malcolm Little and he had a
really tough childhood, losing his parents at such an early age must have had an
effect on the illegal activity he soon became familiar with. Malcolm became
involved with crime as a way out of his life, and it soon caught up with him when
we was sentenced to prison for 10 years. When he was poroled he became a
member of the NOI and was heavily invalid with the Islam religion. When he left
the NOI and founded his own group based on totally different beliefs he was
harassed and said to be a trader by many NOI members. Every thing that happened
to Malcolm some sort of accept of his personality or philosophy(Schooling 3-4)
Malcolm X’s beliefs helped the entire country realize that equality is the
only way that everyone can live in harmony. He became a good leader after having
such a traumatic childhood which isn’t easy for somebody to turn their entire life
around like Malcolm X did. He rose over everything bad in his life to become one
of the most respected black leaders of his time. If Malcolm never had realized the
importance of everyone to live and get along with each other, then who knows
where the civil rights movement would be now.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Adoff, Arnold and Rudy Gutierrez. Malcolm X. New York: Harper Collins Publisher
Inc., 1999.
Cayton, Andrew, Elisabeth Israels Perry, and Allen M. Winkler. Americas Pathways to
the Present. Needham, MA: Prentice Hall, 1995.
“Malcolm X: A Research Site.” 25 October 2000
.
“Malcolm X.” Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Microsoft Publishing Inc., 2000.
“Malcolm X.” World Book. Online. 25 October 2000.
Myers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. New York: Scholastic Inc.,
1998.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Marcel Schilling. 1 November 2000.
.
Word Count: 1219
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