Malcolm X: Blue-eyed Devil (2)

For a while when I was reading Malcolm X I had no idea how I could possibly relate to anything in Malcolm's life. When I started to get to the part about whites being the devil I became pretty disgusted and frustrated that we even had to read this book. What made me even more mad was the fact that they kept referring to blue-eyed, blonde haired, white devils. "Conducting the class was a tall, blond, blue-eyed (a perfect "devil") Harvard Seminary student" (Haley 193). That is what Malcolm said about a man who lectured to a class that he was in and as soon as Malcolm walked into the room he didn't like him. This led to Malcolm's questioning him about things like whether Paul and Jesus were black or white just to embarrass him. Isn't this the same kind of discrimination that Malcolm spent his life preaching against? How can someone feel so strongly about something yet be such a hypocrite while he serves as an example of the people he calls "devils"?

This connected directly to me and while it made me feel more hatred toward Malcolm and people who followed him, it was also able to open my eyes a little bit to the way that many black people feel. People judge them and make assumptions about who they are as a person based solely on the way they appear.

Not to repeat what Mattessich said to me, but we are going to Harlem next week on our field trip. So, how are many of the people there going to see me? Times have changed and not as many blacks are discriminated against, but many people still have racist feelings so what's to say that people in Harlem won't still see me as a devil? The way that I would feel walking among a crowd of black people is the same as the way blacks feel walking among whites. If someone can tell me where the difference between these two examples of discrimination lies, I'd love to hear it. There is nothing that I can do to change my eye and hair color because just like the color of your skin, it has to do with genetics. Sure I could dye my hair or get colored contacts, but I don't see why I would have to. This is just like the way Malcolm talks about how blacks conked their hair; he also felt that blacks should not be forced into changing their appearance and being ashamed of who they are. So again, where is the difference?

People talk about reverse racism, but if you actually think about it how can there be a such thing? The definition of racism doesn't state that racism is only the discrimination against blacks. Racism is racism, so the negative way that Malcolm began to see any white person is the same as the way he claims whites have viewed him.

Definition 

Malcolm X: Never trusted (1)

"Full time hustlers never can relax to appraise what they are doing and where they are bound. As is the case in any jungle, the hustler's every waking hour is lived with both the practical and the subconscious knowledge that if he ever relaxes, if he ever slows down, the other hungry, restless foxes, ferrets, wolves, and vultures out there with him won't hesitate to make him their pray" (Haley 112). 

This quote stuck out to me because while reading I continued to find more and more examples of how this statement was true in Malcolm's time, and even in our time today. For example, when Malcolm slapped one of Sammy's girls Sammy came running after him with a gun ready to kill him. This showed me how even though Malcolm had considered him one of his best friends, he clearly could not be trusted. It was about survival of the fittest and Sammy was interested in protecting himself and, in this instance, a woman he seemed to care about. He was a pimp who cared about his own well-being and even though he made Malcolm think that he cared about him, he did not. To me, this seemed like an extreme turning point for the way Malcolm looked at Sammy along with other people he knew. Malcolm said, "We soon made up - on the surface. But things never are fully right again with anyone you have seen trying to kill you" (Haley 118).

This topic of not being able to fully trust anyone outside of your family, including those who you think are your friends, directly relates to high school life. I have been through a bad experience in the past with a group of friends who proved not to be friends at all. While I have made many new friends in coming to Pascack Valley, I am now always aware that only a few close friends can always be trusted with absolutely anything.  

An example that defends this is the movie Mean Girls. Regina believes that Cady had become her friend when in reality she is just pretending while actually sabotaging her life.

Mean Girls 

Ethnic Notions - Black people in white minds

For me, this movie really depicted how horribly blacks were treated so many years ago. I always had some knowledge of the fact that they were treated extremely poorly, especially during the time of slavery, but this was honestly the first visual aid that I have ever encountered that really relayed this message clearly to me. The things that stuck out the most when I was watching were "The Brute" and "The Pickaninny". The black people were actually seen as savage animals. It seems so ridiculous to me that people can actually believe that. They are obviously humans just like everyone else, the only difference is the color of their skin and it is astonishing what an impact that had on people. People really thought that if there was no slavery the emancipated slaves would run wild just like animals. The idea of a pickaninny is absolutely horrible to me as well. Poor children who obviously had no control over what they were born into were seen as no better than small animals. The greeting cards of them being nearly eaten by alligators was disgusting, they are babies! I think racism has decreased and become much less violent since this time, but it is definitely still present today. People aren't as public about their feelings and saying things like "nigger" is no longer tolerated. There are still a good amount of people who believe many of the stereotypes that originated so long ago. For example, blacks as a whole were seen as a lazy group of people and today i think that still applies to some blacks, but it also applies to many whites. I know that a common feeling that some whites have towards black has to do with Welfare. It is believed that blacks live on Welfare and continue to have children without having to worry about how they are going to support them. I think that many of the stereotypes, especially those originated years ago, are barbaric but i see that some honestly apply to some groups of people. 

Malcolm X Chapters 3 & 4

Within these chapters, what I noticed most was how well Malcolm adapted to his new life in Boston. I was surprised, but pleasantly surprised at how easily he made new friends. I found the slang that he and Shorty used to be really funny and sometimes confusing to follow. The part that I found to be most shocking was what happened to Laura, I did not see it coming at all! "The next time I saw her she was a wreck of a woman, notorious around black Roxbury, in and out of jail. She had finished high school, but by then she was already going the wrong way. Defying her grandmother, she started going out late and drinking liquor. This led to dope, and that to selling herself to men. Learning to hate men who bought her, she also became a Lesbian" (Haley 72). 

Malcolm X Chapters 1 & 2

So far I see very clearly how difficult Malcolm's early life was. The first traumatic incident that he had to live through happened when he was very young, only six years old I believe. His father died in a very horrible way, being nearly cut in half. "Negroes in Lansing have always whispered that he was attacked, and then laid across some tracks for a streetcar to run over him" (Haley 10). His family then suffered greatly, his mother never being able to recover from the loss of her husband. They were offered monthly Welfare checks, which his mom reluctantly accepted only because if she hadn't her children would have starved for sure. The whole family had to deal with a lot from the state Welfare people. "They acted as if they owned us, as if we were their private property" (Haley 13). They unnecessarily talked to all of the children separately trying to get them to talk down about their siblings, trying to turn them all against each other. This line meant a lot to me because it just invoked pathos so easily. With no other choice, the family was forced to endure years of this horrible way of life. Malcolm's mother hated that her children had to grow up this way, but there was nothing left that she could do. She had no provider, no protector, and she was unable to hold a job because of her background. It was against her beliefs to have her family eat pork, so when she was offered a whole pig by a neighbor, that was the final straw for the state Welfare people in declaring her insanity.