Malcolm X and the History of Equality in the USA

1

Catherine Logan

APUSH

Mr. D’ Aquila

Malcolm X and the History of Equality in the USA

Throughout America’s history, past and present, the people’s struggle to become one nation has been long and turbulent, and in the eyes of some, continues today[AHD1]. Malcolm X, an influential human rights activist in the late 1950s and early 1960s, said “Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on the plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American,” This statement sums up the complexity and challenges he felt went along with the business of really being, and feeling like, an American. Throughout his autobiography, he urged black Americans to rise against the social, political, and economic boundaries he felt were suppressing them and preventing them from being ‘real’ Americans[AHD2]. He transferred the many rejections he experienced in his own life to the inequalities and injustices he believed all blacks suffered[AHD3].

Malcolm X himself had many reasons to feel rejected from mainstream America. He was born into a middle-class black family in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 1925. As a black family, they were threatened by a white, local hate society called The Black Legion, but ironically, Malcolm also resented that he was the fairest-skinned of his siblings: his grandfather had been white and he “hated every drop of that white rapist’s blood that is in me (X, 3).” His childhood was far from normal, starting with the death and probable murder of his father when he was only six years old. Following his father’s death, Malcolm’s family began to slowly deteriorate. His mother crumbled under the stress of supporting the entire family and was later sent to a mental institution. As Malcolm’s life moved into foster-homes, although he was a strong student, his hopes of excelling as a lawyer faded, as did any encouragement to continue his education. Malcolm’s eighth-grade school teacher told him, “A lawyer-that’s no realistic goal for a nigger (X, 38),” and although Mr. Octrowski, the teacher, may have had good intentions, he was a catalyst in Malcolm’s fall into dropping out of school, hustling, and later jail[AHD4].

Malcolm was so desperate for a new life that when his brother inspired him to join the Nation of Islam it seemed like a dream. After reinventing himself as Malcolm X, saying the ‘X” “symbolized the true African family name that he never could know,” he devoted 12 years of his life to the Nation, promoting its teachings and calling whites “devils.” His passionate belief that blacks should be at the top of the social order was at the root of his hatred of whites and his belief that blacks were not even treated as equals.

Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam after he offended them by speaking disrespectfully about the assassination of President Kennedy although Malcolm X later speculated Elijah Muhammad to be jealous of Malcolm X’s rising fame. Again he experienced rejection from a group to which he had felt he belonged. He became a Sunni Muslim and began to enjoy world appeal though, when he tried to enter Mecca on his Hajj pilgrimage, he was rejected again until the son of Prince Faisal intervened. This is an example of Malcolm benefitting from the privileged status of another.

Malcolm X’s assassination in 1965 may have resulted from his split with the Nation of Islam. He had spent his life fighting against rejection, but ironically was murdered by members of a group that he had fought alongside.

From the time Europeans first settled in North America, the social struggles and rejection of one group by another began. Native Americans had been living in America for hundreds of years and, when their homeland was attacked, they were no match for the powerful weaponry and force of the Europeans. They lost their lands and were treated as anything but the true Americans that they were. Since that time, the Native Americans have struggled to regain their land and have been moved into reservations for payment of their land[AHD5].

A second example of Americans mistreating their own relates to the slavery struggle. African Americans [AHD6]were taken from their native lands and exploited as slaves to the white plantation owners. They were torn apart from their families, abused and considered property, rather than human beings.

As America industrialized and overseas war became a reality for Americans, another instance of injustice occurred. On December 7, 1941, the American naval base at Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese during World War II, and, along with declaring war on Japan, the American government also took control of all the naturalized Japanese currently living within the US. As Malcolm X said in his autobiography, “Before that bomb was dropped - right over here in the United States, what about the one hundred thousand loyal naturalized and native-born Japanese-American citizens who were herded into camps, behind barbed wire (X, 273).” Politics has played an important role in America’s racial history. The government only allowing white men to vote was their first stance against equality. Since then, steps have been taken in an attempt to equalize the system, but all too slow. When it was decided to consider a black man’s vote as two thirds [AHD7]of a vote, it became apparent that although the government had the right idea, they were not willing to move ahead. While the political rights of black men were limited, women of all races and ethnicities were still being discriminated against. All people in America are considered Americans, but prohibiting specific groups of people from contributing to the government, divides the nation. Not only was voting a problem that broke the nation at one point, but when the civil war arose, people’s political beliefs and values helped shape the divisions. As the North began to legally abolish slavery, the south took no part, which, combined with the rising tensions, was a key cause of the United States Civil War. It is because the government was not strong enough in the beginning to stand up against slavery that by the time they tried to remove it, it was too late.

Although the Civil War was many years ago, the control over civilians still creates problems in the country today. Since 1898 when Puerto Rico was acquired in an exchange from the Spanish-American war, the residents of Puerto Rico have been caught in a political struggle (Mooney, 1). Puerto Ricans are considered to be Americans, although they cannot vote in presidential elections. So although they are “Americans” they don’t experience the same rights that others, who are also considered to be “Americans,” receive.

While the economy has had its ups and downs, much of it is based on the earnings of lower-class America. The ghettos have been around for many years, loaded with minimum wage working people with no way out. It was said in the Autobiography of Malcolm X that over $3 billion of the black man’s money is annually spent on automobiles, yet America has hardly any franchised black automobile dealers[AHD8]. The government has used the money of the poor, yet has no way to replenish their spending, and although it may seem that was a thing of the past, there is an ongoing problem with Mexican immigrants finding work to support themselves and possibly a family. It was found that only 5.5% of all Mexican immigrants are employed in managerial and professional jobs (Warren, 1). The Mexican immigrants, legal and illegal, that come to this nation looking for a better lifestyle end up filling the minimum-wage positions that keep the economy going. Many of these immigrants don’t have enough education to get a very high position in the job world because they don’t have enough money to continue their education, while the wealthier classes can go on to obtain a better education and, in turn, a better job, creating an endless circle in the economy.

Malcolm X said, “What you are telling me is that it isn’t the American white man who is racist, but it’s the American political, economic, and social atmosphere that automatically nourishes a racist psychology in the white man” (X, 378). He had suffered discrimination and rejection throughout his life and felt other American blacks experienced the same. American history has many examples of Americans being treated as less than Americans such as the Native Americans, the slaves, the American-Japanese and the Puerto-Ricans. Malcolm X expressed the injustice he saw in terms of the dinner table. Just being there doesn’t make you a diner, where the meal could be the vote or the right to live free. He preached that in order to join the diners you must fight for what’s on the plate, and thus gain a better life for all[AHD9].

Catherine, good first APUSH paper! It is well organized and researched. The thesis could be stronger, but it is there. Good hist evidence but try to connect back to quote more. Integrate them more. Ex- Jap-Am intern as example to support his quote. Some minor hist errors, but they do not distract. Overall, good job!

Works Cited

Mooney, Chris. "Second-class citizens." Legal Affairs. July-Aug. 2003. 11 Aug. 2008 <

Warren, Robert. "Labor Market Characteristics of Mexican Immigrants in the United States." Center for Immigration Studies. 1997. 11 Aug. 2008 <

X., Malcolm, Ossie Davis, Alex Haley, and M. S. Handler. Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998.

[AHD1]1Good intro statement!

[AHD2]1Well worded. Good connection to prompt.

[AHD3]1Say, good evaluation.

[AHD4]1Excellent, good concise summary of pivotal pts of his childhood and brought back to prompt.

[AHD5]1 Good, hist. Context.

[AHD6]1 Well tech they were just Africans.

[AHD7]1 Reference to 3/5th clause? Not for vote, only # for representatives

[AHD8]1put in context. “In Malcolm’s eyes”

[AHD9]1 glad you went back to quote, but expand your analysis of that quote.