The Claim Of White Superiorities In Malcolm X's Autobiography

Malcolm X was one of the most prominent civi right activists at the time. He preached Black Nationalism, where blacks separates themselves from the whites completely. He is often known as the intellectual, charismatic hero. Although, he was not always that faithful. He was a thug. A hustler. He committed crimes. How did a hoodlum, became a historical figure of Malcolm X? There was many events in his life that changed him, and shaped him to be that somebody. If we trace back his footsteps, his life as Malcolm Little, his life as a thug, his life as a inmate, and his life as a national minister of Nation of Islam, all contributed in creating him and his name of Malcolm X.

Literacy is power. Being taught to read and write is important to function in society. You learn to read and write to express your feelings and communicate with others. Frederick Douglass and Malcom X both succeeded in learning how to read and write, but in different ways. The education of Malcolm X was learned more formally. Frederick Douglass learned from his surroundings and the people around him. Malcom and Frederick battled in reading and writing, but learned in similar and different ways.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the story of Malcolm X, an African American male growing up in the United States in the mid-1900's. At this time in America prejudice and segregation were widespread and much a part of everyday life. Malcolm takes the reader through his experiences with American society, which rejects him. This rejection, along with the inferiority cast upon all Black Americans, forces these males to search for acceptance. They are forced to search for purpose in causes greater than single individuals. As the book shows, this is evident in Malcolm throughout his life and in the life of other African American males. The Autobiography shows how during this time in American history

April 3, 1964, Malcolm X gives his well renowned speech; The Ballot or the Bullet in Cleveland Ohio. His purpose behind the speech is to encourage African-Americans of the United States to stand up to the unfair treatment that he believes they receive. Throughout the speech, Malcolm X creates an ambition in the audience, encouraging change through the numerous uses of ethos, logos, and pathos. Malcolm X uses his personal experiences to show the audience that he has experienced the same negativity that they do everyday. X suggests everyone should be treated equally; religion, gender and race aside. His audience was made up of a majority of African-Americans, he uses the common ground of wanting to achieve equal treatment to show his audience he is on the same side as them. Through the organization of the speech, it is rhetorically effective. He practices the phrase “The Ballot or the Bullet” which uses repetition, forcing listeners to remember the phrase which later becomes more effective. X begins using ethos by introducing himself, immediately gaining the attention of the audience as well as respect of the audience. X then makes the current problem in the African-American community extremely clear to the audience, this is his use of pathos, where he engages them in his thought process and bringing them in using emotion. The speech uses rhetoric to emotionally and logically

Malcolm X was one of the primary religious leaders and reformers of the 1960, where he fought for and ultimately gave his life for racial equality in the United States. His father was a reverend who believed in self-determination and worked for the unity of black people. Throughout Malcolm’s life he was treated horribly by white people, hence shaping his misconceptions of all white people and developing his strong belief in black separatism. It wasn’t until years later where he embraced his black identity and discovered all races could live and work together for a common goal, brotherhood.

During the essay, Malcom X explains how he had developed his literacy. He argues that he became bothered because he was not able to express what he desired to impress in letters that he had written. “In this move, the author sets the context for his or her research, providing necessary background on the topic” (Swales CARS). He claims that the people who actually see him on media or read something that he had written, would believe that he had studied more that eighth grade, and he thanks that to the prison where he was. X states that the books available in the prison were only about general subject; some the amazing books that he had read in prison were from Parkhurst’s willingness. He explains that he felt extremely sad when, during his readings,

The context in which a statement is made can change the entire meaning of what was said.  This is why many times people will use context as a defense for statements they make that offend or cause some sort of public backlash.   The manner in which a person delivers a message and what messages the rhetor chooses to deliver can be a great indication of foundation of that persons value and belief system. There are a number of value systems present in Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech that he delivered in the storied election year of 1964. There are many statements made in the ballot or the bullet

Malcolm X is an extremely critical figure that contributed in shaping American social life. He was a famous man who articulated the struggle, anger, and beliefs of African Americans. He was a radical man who fought for change despite the situation. His struggle for equality for the black nation landed him in prison. While in prison, Malcolm was able to study, and earned a college degree. However, most importantly while in prison, Malcolm X was introduced to the Islam faith by one of the prisoners. He received teachings from the Muslim faith, which made him realize that, his people were being oppressed and abused by the whites. While out of prison, he went to visit honorable Elijah Muhammad and later on went around preaching Elijah

In paragraph two I discussed Dr. King and Malcolm X’s goals instead of the goals of the speech(3). To correct this I needed to discuss the goals of the speeches not the goals of Dr. King and Malcolm X. At the end of paragraph two I only listed points of X without comparing or contrasting to Dr. King(1). In order to fix the issue I needed to compare and contrast how Malcolm X discussed that for revolution to happen violence will occur and how Dr. King says violence is unnecessary. Also at the end of the paragraph while I explained X’s beliefs I did not connect my points back to main purpose of paragraph two which was freedom is the goal(18). I needed to explain how his beliefs of history and violence affected the goals his speech was intended

Lansing did not hold many opportunities of any kind for a young black man then, so without a particular plan, Malcolm X went to live with his half-sister, Ella, in Boston. Malcolm X looked, and almost immediately found trouble. He fell in with a group of gamblers and thieves, and began shining shoes at the Roseland State Ballroom. There he learned the trades that would eventually take him to jail dealing in bootleg liquor and illegal drugs. Malcolm X characterized his life then as one completely lacking in self-respect. Many journalists would emphasize Malcolm X’s “shady” past when describing the older man, his clean-cut lifestyle, and the aims of the Nation of Islam. In some cases, these references were an attempt to damage Malcolm X’s credibility, but economically disadvantaged people have found his early years to be a point of commonality, and Malcolm X himself was proud of how far he had come. He spared no detail of his youth in his autobiography, and used his Nation of Islam ideas to interpret them. Dancing, drinking, and even his hair style were represented by Malcolm X to be marks of shame and self-hatred. Relaxed hair in particular was an anathema to Malcolm X for the rest of his life; he described his first “conk” in the autobiography this way: “This was my first really big step toward self-degradation: when I endured all of that pain of the hair-straightening chemicals, literally burning my flesh to have it

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated after delivering a speech to the Organisation (the spelling used by the group) of African-American Unity. Four men were involved in the assassination, but only one was convicted: Talmadge Hayer (a.k.a. Thomas Hagan). The theory accepted by most historians is that the government ordered the assassination of Malcolm X. There is significant evidence to support this theory. One key component in the government theory is the New York Bureau of Special Services, B.O.S.S., an extremely covert spy agency (Hutchinson 1). A week before his assassination, Malcolm’s house was firebombed. Although some thought that Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam, was the bomber, most of those

The 1950's and 1960's were a time of racial turmoil throughout most of the United States. Segregation between blacks and whites was still in full effect, African Americans had to drink from different water fountains, eat at different restaurants, and even shop at different stores than their Anglo "neighbors". Many people and organizations fought valiantly for equality in the U.S. such as Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King jr. and the NAACP. The roles they played were critical in the civil rights movement were critical, the actions they took included peaceful demonstrations and marches, public speeches, and boycotts such as the one that took place in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. One man stands out among all of these leaders though, Malcolm X.

Malcolm X Background Malcolm X, with the given name of Malcolm Little, was born in Omaha, Nebraska at May 19, 1925. His father, Earl Little, was a black Baptist preacher who supported the returning of African Americans to Africa. Starting from a young age, Malcolm X had experienced the bitterness of racism. Being in the position where he publically promoted black nationalism, Earl Little was the target of many people who were against his cause. In 1931, he was murdered by a group of white supremacists.

All through America history there have been racial pressures. Malcolm X 's "The Black Revolution" emphasizes a greater amount of the Civil Rights Movement where blacks requested admiration and flexibility from the whites. It was a going stone for the American encounters today; a general public that is made out of flexibility and equivalent rights for everybody. Malcolm X was persuading in light of the fact that he made a decent utilization of talk procedures. Malcolm X used more direct and aggressive tone in his speech. His primary center in the discourse was to focus on his gathering of people 's feelings on the grounds that he realized that once he could get to their feelings, they would be more open to his thoughts Malcolm X effectively used pathos, agitation and a method of propaganda to spread his message across his audiences.

In the mid-twentieth century, the term institutionalized racism was introduced on behalf of the rising civil rights movement. First used by Kwame Ture and Charles Hamilton in the book Black Power: The Politics of Liberation, the term describes the inherent oppression of a group of people from social institutions such as schools or court-of-law. These highly regarded establishments subtly alter the public eye of a minority, allowing an entire community to become unjust [Kwame Ture]. Since institutionalized racism weaves racism into the fabric of a society, several civil rights leaders including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr, believed that this is could be the root of African American oppression in the United States. However, Malcolm X is a unique figure when discussing this topic because of his different views, which were considered to be radical by the majority of the American public. An example of this is the lack of faith he has in solving race problems using non-violence. The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As told to Alex Haley recounts these beliefs, along with his lifelong story of being a civil rights leader. The book was created over a series of interviews between Malcolm X and writer, Alex Haley. Throughout the Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X’s narration deploys effective rhetoric to support his many claims surrounding the prominent fact that the African American community is systematically oppressed through institutionalized racism and that racial