31–40 of 168 posts
Everyone should really just read the entire Autobiography. http://www.amazon.com/The-Autobiography-Malcolm-Told-Haley/d... Also, they should spell "Malcolm" correctly. :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, his views were rapidly evolving at the time of his death. Read the whole book.
I do know that, but most of his public output was spent on vitriol that damaged race relations further. hence the part where I felt it was a shame.
what a shame that his intellect ended up wasted on reactionary racism. understandable in a sense, given time and place, but still... a waste.
Malcolm X was addressing decades of white-on-black domestic terrorism across the country. Black people were being regularly lynched, firebombed, raped and imprisoned for little more than being black and asserting basic human rights.
Segregationists controlled Congress when Malcolm was at his most influential - there was vanishingly little support from the federal government in stopping these attacks, and the state and local authorities were often complicit.
Even in the face of this, Malcolm X never advocated violence except in self-defense, which is REASONABLE under the circumstances. His threat of returned violence lended credence to the more tolerant views of MLK, and even Malcolm preached universal love in the years before he was murdered.
> At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. I did something similar as a child, with my gu…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, his views were rapidly evolving at the time of his death. Read the whole book.
I do know that, but most of his public output was spent on vitriol that damaged race relations further. hence the part where I felt it was a shame.
Everyone should really just read the entire Autobiography. http://www.amazon.com/The-Autobiography-Malcolm-Told-Haley/d... Also, they should spell "Malcolm" correctly. :)
Is it still worth reading for somebody who despise the man? Both what he was (a robber) and what he became?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do know that, but most of his public output was spent on vitriol that damaged race relations further. hence the part where I felt it was a shame.
Damaged race relations more than centuries of slavery and systematic discrimination by our country's leaders did?
That is essentially what X did. King offered unity, healing and a better future.
Everyone should really just read the entire Autobiography. http://www.amazon.com/The-Autobiography-Malcolm-Told-Haley/d... Also, they should spell "Malcolm" correctly. :)
Is it still worth reading for somebody who despise the man? Both what he was (a robber) and what he became?
Everyone should really just read the entire Autobiography. http://www.amazon.com/The-Autobiography-Malcolm-Told-Haley/d... Also, they should spell "Malcolm" correctly. :)
Is it still worth reading for somebody who despise the man? Both what he was (a robber) and what he became?
what a shame that his intellect ended up wasted on reactionary racism. understandable in a sense, given time and place, but still... a waste.
Would love to see a citation for what you mean by "reactionary racism" - especially from the period in Malcolm's life after he split with the NOI in favor of Sunni Islam. It is true that there are many reactionary elements of NOI ideology and I'm sure you can find all sorts of snippets of quotes from when Malcolm was with them, but not only did he walk away from them, he ultimately gave his life in part because of hi…
So was Malcolm X.
"Usually the black racist has been produced by the white racist. In most cases where you see it, it is the reaction to white racism, and if you analyze it closely, it's not really black racism... If we react to white racism with a violent reaction, to me that's not black racism. If you come to put a rope around my neck and I hang you for it, to me that's not racism. Yours is racism, but my reaction has nothing to do with racism..." - Malcolm X
I disagree with him. I believe that hatred towards a race of people is racism, regardless of origins. When one condemns a group for the actions of a few -- i'll never believe that to be correct. You'll notice that he only mentions a reaction to imminent racism; he, however, did not conduct himself in that manner.
He could be called a 'reactionary racist' because his racism was not entirely fueled by sociocultural norms, but rather as a reaction to the hatred that he experienced from living near racism which was fueled socioculturally. While I agree that the motives for that form of hatred are more pure and just, it's still hatred. The repeated perpetration of hatred only leads to more hatred, due to the non-linear growth of vendettas which require 'settling'.
Just because he was the victim of much hatred doesn't make certain things he said 'non-racist', and as a (loud) public figure, atonement for advocacy of violence and racism in the past does not undo the damage that it caused. The 'nation's teachings' were despicable; how many were affected?
I agree that nearly all of the atrocious stuff he said was during his part with the NOI, but there's no time machine. He still did it. He was never an angel, he just improved with age.
The work he did towards uniting blacks as a singular entity to stand towards oppressions was fantastic, however the inches closer towards utopia that got us were lost to incessant preaching of racial weakening (coffee and creamer allegory..) and 'Truly Africans' movement, just further alienating the country as a whole.
There are better civil leaders to look up to -- some don't even require you to skim past their evil past.