Malcom X
Hero or Foe ?
Malcolm X is often portrayed as a violent leader of the Civil Rights movement. Because of that, he might be thought of as a villain. In reality, he was a peaceful man. Although his speeches were intense, and he often referred to white people as devils, he was respectful to others in privacy. At the age of sixteen, Malcolm was introduced to hustling, pimping, and dope-dealing. He was arrested before the age of twenty-one due to trying to repair a watch he had stolen.
While in jail, his brothers introduced him to the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its leader, Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm was instantly intrigued by the NOI and began to write to Elijah, wanting to reform himself. When Malcolm was released from prison, he quickly rose to become a very influential leader in the NOI. He was an intelligent, charismatic speaker and captivated his audiences. He preached about black supremacy, blacks and whites being kept separate, and had an eye-for-eye sort of mentality (if someone hit you, you hit them back). In some of his speeches, he was quoted as saying, “By any means necessary” and “You don't have a peaceful revolution. You don't have a turn-the-cheek revolution there's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution”. Because of his views, he did not align himself with MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. Despite his conviction of an eye-for-eye, Malcolm was a peaceful man, a fact of which not many people are aware.
Malcolm eventually had a non-amicable split from the NOI. Malcolm wanted the NOI to become more radical, but it was unwilling. His life was instantly endangered because of the split. The NOI had hit men who would follow Malcolm around and threaten him. Malcolm decided to go to Mecca to get away from the constant harassment. While there, Malcolm was impressed by the brotherhood of everyone. He became friends with people of all colors and wrote to his family about his experiences, saying “On this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought patterns previously held and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions." He started to align his views with MLK and the Civil Rights Movement.
The NOI was still following and threatening him, so police escorted Malcolm around. On February 21st, Malcolm gave a public speech with his wife, children and many others in attendance. During that speech, three men from the NOI who had once been Malcom's friends, shot him fourteen times. More than 20,000 people attended his funeral to pay their respects.
Some people say that Malcolm X was a violent man even though he didn’t do anything violent. He was a vital leader in the Civil Rights Movement. Many things can be said about Malcolm X: he was passionate, charismatic, heroic. One thing that cannot be said about Malcolm is that he was a villain.
Work Cited:
"Malcolm X." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 11 February 2015.
"Malcolm X." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Grove Press, 1965. Print.
By Joshi Jacobsma
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