Who Is Malcom X?

Malcom X
Javier Figueroa
Lynn University

Judaism
There are several public figures in this world who are considered to be famous and some who existed a long time ago whose names are still alive and current. Some of them have different ideologies. One famous person who was known for his ideologies was Malcom X, an individual who was protesting against the racism of white people against the black population, and the unfair inequality that existed as a result of it. Unlike Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X was known to be an aggressive person when it came to protesting against racism. That was because he used a hostile approach by using dangerous and revolutionary actions (Tuck, 2013). Malcom X was recognized for being a
common activist who focused his attention and efforts on two main ideologies that included equality for Afro-Americans and black superiority. These two ideologies contain certain differences and similarities that have to do with how he protested against racism.
The concept of equality seen through Malcom X’s perspective included a main goal of setting equal rights between individuals of both races; due to the fact that white people considered the black race as inferior and they were mistreating them by separating them from certain rights in society. Malcom X’s side of the story started as a result of an incident that occurred when his home was destroyed by white supremacists when he was four years old. This caused him to live in several foster homes (Tuck, 2014, Pg 29) In the case of this ideology of setting equal rights, Malcom X started to write a paper about setting the equal rights when he was in prison to prepare himself for the protest. After he was released from prison he started traveling
to Africa and the Middle East, which made him feel happy because he did not experience racism there. This started to make him question the separation between blacks and whites in the United States. Ever since he joined the Nation of Islam, he began to believe in black supremacy which the led him to do a boycott and protest in America against racism (Tuck, 2014, Pg 46). Unlike Martin Luther King Jr who protested without violence, Malcom X protested in a very hostile way. One of the ways in which he was hostile giving a harsh criticism of the civil rights movement’s goal of integration. He stated that white people would not permit the ex slaves to share their wealth. He even called the non-violence belief/philosophy “criminal” (Tuck, 2014, Pg46). Malcom X was debating/protesting in a very harsh and aggressive way, which can trigger problems. Problems that could be triggered include being sentenced to prison, war, etc. Obviously, based on his ideology of equality, he was trying to achieve equal rights. Another ideology Malcom X had was black superiority. He got the idea after joining the Black Nationalism. This organization includes the idea of separating the blacks into another community that contains the Islamic religion. He believes that the religion should be combined with Black Nationalism (Curtis, 2002). The goal there was to separate all blacks and lead them to the Islamic Nation. In this case of the ideology of black superiority, Malcom X tried to prove the black race to be superior to the white race (Allen & Hall, 2016). The way he tried to prove it that was by talking about the white racism history along with how violently aggressive they were to the blacks. One of the thoughts he used for ending the separation caused by racism was dismissing Christianity as white man’s religion. Other concepts were to further the progress of the pride of Blacks along with independence from the White community on social, political and economic independence (Allen & Hall, 2016). This seemed like Malcom X was seeking revenge on the white community by trying to turn the tables around and show that blacks are superior to whites. Clearly, unlike Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Malcom X was being more aggressive and hostile in his approach to change. Instead of being polite, he was falling to same level as racism from the white community. He was falling to that level because as mentioned before, his approach of wanting to prove to the white community that blacks are superior to whites is just the same as what the whites were doing. The way Malcom X’s ideologies are similar is by the fact that Malcom X was trying to set the individuals from the black community free from the discriminatory maltreatment they were receiving from the white community.
Through both ideologies, Malcom X delivered a speech in which he tried to accomplish his goal of setting equal rights in the black community. It was to the point that he called the individuals from the white community as the devil race (Krieg, 1979). Both of his ideologies came from his view of racism. He viewed racism as an unfair issue that took away human rights from the black community. He considered that the main cause of racism in the world in general were the individuals from the white community (Hatch, 1979). One of the things that led Malcom X to do these kind of actions was the way he viewed segregation; he viewed it as the separation against the individuals who were seen as worthless to the other individuals. (Hatch, 1979). Trying to accomplish the goals of both of his ideologies, Malcom X’s approach was not the right way to request for equal rights. He was unawarely provoking war and violence. The better way to request for equal rights is by using a much friendlier approach like the one Martin Luther King Jr
did.

References
Allen, D., & Hall, J. H. (Eds.). (2016). Dialogues of justice and civic life level 100 (4th ed.). Boca Raton, FL: Lynn University.
Curtis, E. E. (2002). Islam in Black America : Identity, Liberation, and Difference in African-American Islamic Thought. Albany: State University of New York Press
Hatch, R. D. (1979). Racism and Religion: The Contrasting Views of Benjamin Mays, Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Journal Of Religious Thought, 36(2), 26.
Krieg, R. A. (1979). Malcom X--Myth and Truthfulness. Journal Of Religious Thought, 36(2), 37.
TUCK, S. (2013). Malcolm X's Visit to Oxford University: U.S. Civil Rights, Black Britain, and the Special Relationship on Race. American Historical Review, 118(1), 76-103
Tuck, S., & Gates, H., Jr.,. (2014). The night malcolm x spoke at the oxford union : A transatlantic story of antiracial protest(George gund foundation imprint in african american studies). Oakland, California: University of California Press.