Essay about Malcolm X 2

Afro-American Struggle: Malcolm X’s Views on the White Race Malcolm X was a controversial figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s. He was well known for his extremist ideals involving religion, politics, and most importantly, race. X was very explicit while he described the white race in his autobiography. He blames the whites for the majority of everything bad in his life. His hasty views on the white race created media frenzy and boosted him to be one of the leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley, successfully depicts the transformation of X’s social and political views regarding the white race in the 1960’s. His stories justifying his beliefs are very persuasive and effective, however they are incredibly narrow-minded and do not present plausible cause for such extremist views on an entire race. In the beginning of Malcolm X’s life, his views were very focused on the wickedness and immorality of the whites. He described them as “devils” and “liars.” “Every time you see the white man, you see the devil” (Haley 245). He was against the white race and refused to receive help from them. X fought for segregation between the races, instead of the popular civil rights motive for integration. He developed an extreme hatred for whites while he was in prison with the influence of his mentor and religious idol, Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad was against all whites and viewed them as devils. A quotation from the text that shows X’s views on Eljah Muhammad is “… was that Elijah Muhammad in every aspect of his existence was a symbol of moral, mental, and spiritual reform among the American black people” (Haley 339). This causes Malcolm X to evaluate all of the white people that he has ever encountered and found in all cases they have caused him misery in his life. He also blames the white race for taking advantage of the poor ghettos to make themselves richer. All this resentment toward the white race is prominent in his political and social views during his stand for civil rights. Later in life, Malcolm X decided to travel the world and make the Hajj, or the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. During this exposure to the real aspects and people of the Islam faith, his ideals and beliefs toward the white people had changed. He had learned that the Islamic faith was “colorblind” and that race had no bearings in the religion. After his life changing experiences in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, he realized that not all white people are evil. In fact, he decided to include the “good” whites in his social activism, by having the “good” whites convert other whites to follow his cause of Civil Rights activism. A quote from the autobiography that states his new found views is “I don’t speak against the sincere, well-meaning, good white people. I learned there are some. I have learned that not all white people are racists. I am speaking against and my fight is against white racists. I firmly believe that Negros have the right to fight against these racists, by any means necessary” (Haley 422). This quotation also proves that Malcolm X admits that he was wrong in his previous beliefs and that his beliefs generalized all white people as evil. This shows how he was so narrow-minded in his earlier years. Malcolm X’s autobiography makes a clear argument for his social beliefs against white people by using examples from his life to tell the reader why white people are so evil. For example, in the beginning of the autobiography, he explains how the white man killed his father, and how the white man forced his mother into a mental institution. He also explains later in the autobiography that the white man took advantage of the ghettos and reaped benefits from taking advantage of the poor. He also blamed the white man for giving him a longer prison sentence that he deserved. Instances of how the white man negatively affected his, and other black people’s lives flood the autobiography. All

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