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Argumentative Essay On Malcolm X

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Malcolm X had a difficult childhood. His first memory was of the KKK burning down his home, his father was murdered, he watched his mother go through severe struggles, and he was taken by the state and placed into foster care. Everyone around him brought him down in some way, whether it was society, the state, his home life, or his teachers. His childhood and adolescence shaped him into the man that he became, truly beginning when his life had spiraled completely and he went to jail. He finally turned his life around when his brother wrote to him during his last prison sentence and told him about a new religion. He told Malcolm to stop smoking and to give up pork; if he did these things, he would get out of jail. Malcolm X did just that, and …show more content…

King’s message. However, Malcolm also taught his followers to get justice for what they were put through, because getting justice was better than being integrated and just simply forgetting what happened to them by the hands of the white man. He urged his followers to change themselves morally; to stop doing drugs and other illegal activities. His argument against King’s beliefs was that integration was pointless, that it would be fake because neither side would treat the other with trust, dignity, and respect. One of the most important values Malcolm X taught was self-respect, which every black man needs to obtain for himself as no one else will give it to him. They were also different kinds of preachers. King preached about nonviolence and love while Malcolm ended up being the minister in New York City of “Temple Seven” (Haley, 2015, p. 219). He preached about justice, white people being the enemy of black people, stating that “the devils and black Ph.D. puppets would be acting so friendly and ‘integrated’ with each other… it was such a big lie that it made me sick to my stomach” (Haley, 2015, p.

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