Witness to the assassination of Malcolm X
HIS/145
September 10, 2013
Corey Fredericks
Witness to the assassination of Malcolm X
The New York Post writer seems to take a more humanistic approach to the whole scenario. The writer began the piece with words of love from his followers, showing importance where it should have been. The writer shows their positive outlook on Malcolm by mentions of his words of peace, including his last. His assassination was felt through the words and phrases captured from the on-lookers. The humanistic approach is still a bit biased by choice of a few phrases out of thousands; however the lack of negative wording helps it to be a bit more effective than the prior two. Seraile, W. (1981, Winter). . THE ASSASSINATION OF MALCOLM X: THE VIEW FROM HOME AND ABROAD, 5(1), 43.
Associate Press’s writers began with the fact that Malcolm had been previously victim to violence only the week before and mentions his followers as devoted, as well as claiming them responsible for savagery where the perpetrator had to be rescued by police. There really is no significance in the man’s death, but more the “pandemonium that followed. The word alleged when describing the assailant bodes deep in my opinion, as it being just that opinion and influence word choice. The style was somewhat effective and non-biased, however it is subtly so.
The Amsterdam News takes a rather weird approach of fewer facts and more people writing in first person of someone who was not even there. The person’s reaction and describing Malcolm as articulate, and then the mention of the on-lookers being “neatly dressed” shows a respect and language used to show opinion. The style was not very effective because of the informality of it, but was one of the more pleasant accounts. The acknowledgement of the significance of what had happened was felt in the
