Malcom X was a renowned human rights activist as well as an African-American Muslim minister who advocated for the rights of blacks. He was an outspoken activist and considered by many especially the black population as an outspoken public voice of the Black Muslim faith. His prominence was felt in the 1960’s when he was known for challenging mainstream civil rights movements and his voice against white aggression. He approached nonviolent means of communicating his grievances. His nature as an activist and a champion for black rights were motivated by his experiences both in the family setting as well as the experiences when schooling and when he was seeking employment. Through the autobiography of Malcom X with Alex Haley, more insights about Malcom X life as well as the ideologies and the themes that he addressed are discussed. This paper therefore analyzes the themes entailed in the autobiography as well as a response to the questions that are raised on the themes of the autobiography.
Theme 1: Malcom’s Varying Perceptions of Racism
Malcom’s perceptions on racism vary from time to time, the experiences that he undergoes in the course of his life changes is perception of racism. His perceptions on racism developed from when he was a little child and being raised by parents who had been influenced by the white society, he had lost hope about the plight of the blacks as he believed that his parents had been destroyed by the white society and at time there little he could do about it. He attributes part of his perception of racism to his experience in school as witnessed in the following line from the autobiography “As a “nigger” of my class, I was in fact extremely popular- I suppose partly because I was kind of novelty. I was in demand, I had top priority” (2.30). The perception being depicted in this quote shows the positive thinking on racism that he developed while in high school. However, this perception changes after the experiences that he went through with his interactions with blacks in the ghettos of Boston as well as New York. He starts developing the perception that white supremacy should not be tolerated by the blacks. Malcom develops yet another perception during his travels to Middle East and his abandoning of the American Nation for quite some time develops some sought of mix up in his perceptions as he tries to merge the perceptions of racism from an African-American point of view with the perceptions as an Islam. As a result, he develops a perception that the plight of the blacks could be successful if the identify themselves with other oppressed people such as the Islamists. A drastic change in his perceptions is depicted towards the end of the work when he is portrayed to be in support of the involvement of the whites in the plight of the lacks and in trying to fight for the rights of blacks and equality, this is a perception he was opposed to earlier. In short, Malcom undergoes a lot of transformation in terms of his perceptions on racism before coming up with his philosophy.
Theme 2: The Comparison between Hustling and Activism
After coming out of prison, Malcom develops another character of being an evangelist. This new role can be linked to his earlier experience as a hustler and despite refraining from habits such as smoking, gambling and crime, he retains certain skills, insights and values that shaped his new role as an evangelist after prison. The usefulness of this skills, insights and values that he retained from his earlier life as a hustler as well as the knowledge he gained from Harlem is reflected on how he was able to handle various situations that arose in his new roles both in the press and as a black Islam activist. He uses his earlier experiences and knowledge to carefully craft his public image as well identify his enemies. Although he is not proud of his earlier lifestyle, he admits that it played a role in shaping his future and he acknowledges this through a joke that he was giving to a university audience that he utilized his bachelor’s degree on the streets of Harlem. The survival skills that he developed as a hustler helped him in his role later as an activist, he is able to apply the survival tactics in his fight against racism.
Theme 3: Human Dignity and Basic Rights
Part of the issues that Malcom X brought to light in relation to the plight of the blacks constituted his argument that racism dehumanizes the blacks. He was agitated by how the whites would treat the blacks as if they were half-human. This formed part of the basis of his fight for equality. The experiences that he underwent in is childhood life as well as in school where people would treat him differently in relation to his color shaped this kind of agitation and was the reason why he was so determined to ensure racial equality is achieved. In what seems to be a revenge on the dehumanization that he received on the hands of his family and school, he is in some way depicted to be dehumanizing the whites when he puts on display his white girlfriend as a status symbol in Boston something that most of the whites felt that it was dehumanizing and that to him Sophia, his girlfriend was more of an object under his ownership than a human. His attitude however changes when Malcom comes into contact whites in Mecca who conform well with him and treat equally as any other human being, this was an inception of Malcom’s appreciation of the whites as humans just like him. Malcom’s experiences demonstrate what Howard Thurman termed as experiences making one an alien to himself or herself. His arguments support Thurman’s points that racial divisions, segregation and the central principles of Christianity can damage a society as reflected by Malcom’s encounters with these issues.
Theme 4: Self-transformation
Malcom undergoes both physical and spiritual transformations in the course of his life. The experiences that he undergoes as a child, at school, in hustling and also while in prison contribute to the transformations that he underwent. His various travels to Middle East and Boston also contribute to the transformations that he undergoes. He transforms into a life of gambling, marijuana and crime after moving to Boston however, after being subjected to imprisonment he changes and becomes intelligent and also develops spiritually into a devoted Muslim. His admission of transformation is reflected in the following quote from the autobiography “It was then that I began to change-inside. I drew away from white people (2.78). This line represents the stage in life when Malcom was so bitter with the whites due to the dehumanizing experience that he underwent under their hands. The various travels and the events that he encounters during these travels transform his life as well as his perceptions on racism. The places he moves to as well the people he interacted with influenced his way of thinking, an example is his visit to Mecca where through the positive interaction with whites there, he widens his perception on racism and also incorporates his experiences while in America in developing his philosophy. This shows how experiences and the environments that Malcom encountered shaped his worldview as well as his philosophy.
