Malcolm X: Breaking Free (2)

In the "Black Muslims" chapter, Elijah Muhammad was giving a speech about black opportunity. "We, the black people here in America, we never have been free to find out what we could really do" (Haley 261). This references Malcolm's belief that oppressed blacks could have been astronauts, scientists, or lawyers to improve society if they were free. All of the African Americans potential to do great things went untested because of racism.

In a less extreme way, this relates to growing up and leaving home. I know that when I leave home, I will grow as a person because there will be less boundaries and rules. Although living at home is not  oppression, it is not totally free because the owner of the house sets the rules. In college and after, I will realize what  I can really do - whether it is working long hours, finding a way to pay bills and be financially responsible. These are things that I will find out about myself later in life, because they are unnecessary while living with my parents.

http://www.psychology.com/articles/?p=3

This website tells how teenagers grow into adults when they are responsible for everything in their lives. Especially at college, students find themselves because they have more freedom. Although with freedom and responsibility can come stress. But learning to deal with stress is also part of finding out what one is capable of handling.

Although Malcolm's inability to find his true potential is life long and race related, while mine is for a short (and necessary) time and age related, they are surprisingly similar. One can only find oneself is they are free to grow and experience life. 

Malcolm X: A Role Model? (1)

As I am reading chapters 7-9, I am questioning Malcolm's ability to be a role model at this point in his life. I am not saying that he doesn't become a role model and a great civil rights leader - just at this point in his life he seems to be moving down the wrong path. Supposedly Malcolm has some great revelation about his life when he finds Islam, but at this point I cannot really see that happening. He is going to have to change a lot in order to switch his path in life. 

Right now in the story, he is smoking cigarettes, "reefers" and doing all sorts of drugs. Not to mention his gambling addiction, love of guns and willingness to cheat the law. He decides to go on robberies and becomes a hustler. 

And yet he complains about how white people view African Americans, when all his actions promote that bad stereotype. Don't get me wrong, most white views of African Americans during the segregation period were biased, disgusting and wrong. But Malcolm is doing nothing to improve the stereotype - he is just falling into the category created by racist whites. He should try to prove them wrong, not right by being everything that they fear, and therefore look down upon. 

I have once been a victim of a stereotype. It was a few years ago and I was trying to something at a store. The clerk took one look at me and then charged me $40 for something that was supposed to be $4. When I pointed this very obvious fact out, he lowered the price to $10. I then had to point to the sign that said the actual price before he would charge me $4. I don't know whether he felt he could overprice me because I was young or because I was a girl, but I do know that he knew the correct price. The person before me on line had bought the exact same thing from the same clerk with no problem. The person in front of me was a male, business-type who I guess deserved more respect than I did in the eyes of that clerk. 

I am not, however, putting that one event on the same scale as Malcolm's suffering. We both had been victims of stereotype, but I could walk away from that situation and forget about it (until now I guess) while Malcolm had to deal with racial stereotyping every single day of his life.

Stereotyping always negatively affects the victim of it. Malcolm was forced to the extreme action that became his legacy because he was African American. This website talks about the negative effects of stereotyping : http://uanews.org/node/8818 . It has been proven that being aware of a stereotype negatively affects things such as test scores. 

I can see that Malcolm has potential to do great things, he just got caught up in the wrong crowd. But right now I cannot see how he will get out of his slump and become an activist. It will be interesting to see how this change will happen.

Malcolm X: Malcolm's Struggle

Throughout the beginning of the novel (up to about chapter 6), Malcolm struggles with his African-American identity. He wants to be white, but as he looks back, he realizes that he should be proud of his black heritage. As a child, Malcolm was preferred by his father because of his lighter brown skin. However, he was unfavored by his mother for the same reason. When he was older, Malcolm "conked" or straightened his hair to look more white. 

In the writing style of the novel, the older Malcolm looks back on his young life. His older self suggests that his younger self was naive and weak, by submitting to the socially acceptable views of the day. This is an interesting writing style because the reader can contrast the views while something is happening and the views in hindsight. 

Malcolm, like many adolescents, struggles with his personal identity. Being African-American in the time of segregation added to the pressures that he faces. As the story progresses, I think that Malcolm's present and hindsight views with begin to merge. He will become more proud of himself and his race, which will lead him to become an extremely important civil rights leader. 

Malcolm X: Black/White Racism

The "White Privilege" packet was really shocking. I never realized most of these things before (which I guess was the whole point) and felt bad about the ignorance about racial privilege.  Some of the ones that stuck out most in my mind were:

9) If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece of white privilege.* This one was a little shaky for me because not all authors are white and people don't read books based on the race of the author. But I guess getting published could be easier by being white. 

24) I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.* This was a shock for me - its totally true and I never even realized it before. I hope this can change under the leadership of our new president!

26) I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting card, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.* Walk into any toy store and into the doll aisle - all you see is Caucasian babies. The only company that shows equality between ethnicities is the American Girl company, showcasing African, Asian and Caucasian dolls for purchase. Besides the American Girl company, this would be extremely offensive to me, if I wanted to by a doll and none looked like me. 

46) I can choose a blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.* Now, makeup comes in every color imaginable, but "flesh color" is still, at least where I live, is white. (this is not due to racism - just to the norm of the area).

This realizations were really surprising for me. I never have thought about racial privilege and disadvantages deeply before, so this essay was really enlightening. I think that it is up to our generation to stop "white privilege" and advocate equality for all races.

 

* taken from "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh