In the century where African-Americans had no rights and were highly discriminated, two men set out to make a new lifestyle for each other. Those two men where Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. Frederick Douglass was a slave when he began to learn to read. Malcolm X was in prison when he began to learn how to read, he was in prison because he was an activist civil right. Both of this men have a great influence to the changes made for African-American rights. Both of this men have similarities and differences. Some of the similarities are why they wanted to learn, and their background. The differences are in the way that they learned to read and write and at what time they learned to read and write. Although both men have similarities they …show more content…
For Frederick Douglass, learning to read was more difficult because he had to hide that he was learning to read and write. It was difficult for him because it was prohibited for slaves to know how to read and write. He started to learn to read because help him at first. Then he started getting white boys to help him learn without their knowledge of what they were doing. Another way that he was learning was by reading a book when he was running errands for his mistress. Frederick Douglass learn to write by walking through a shipyard and learning the letter that were written on wooden plaques. He started out by copying the letters L, A, S, F on timber he found in the shipyard. But at the end of his journey he accomplished his goal with unknown help from people he was appreciated. For Malcolm, it was a bit easier because he had books from the prison 's library at his disposal for when eve he needed them. He also had notebooks and pens he could write with. Malcolm learned to read and write by copying the entire dictionary and then repeating what he wrote to himself. He read a lot of books to improve his vocabulary and because they made him feel free. Frederick loved to read to know what was going on with him and his fellow slaves. He started to hate being a slave and to think that white people were cruel once he started to understand what was going on thanks to learning how to
I believe both clips would be a thorough way to help people understand the horrors of slavery. Clip 2 describes Douglass's two masters Captain Anthony and his overseer Mr. Plummer. Douglass states that Captain Anthony, "He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding. He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave." (Clip 2) His overseer Mr. Plummer "was a miserable drunkard, a profane swearer, and a savage monster" (Clip 2) he was known to have cut and slash women's head so horribly that even the Master, the cruel man that he was, would at times be so outraged at his cruelty that he would threaten to whip him. They were terrible to their slaves and what they would do to them, Aunt Hester being an example. During
Imagine growing up in a society where a person is restricted to learn because of his or her ethnicity? This experience would be awful and very emotional for one to go through. Sherman Alexie and Fredrick Douglas are examples of prodigies who grew up in a less fortunate community. Both men experienced complications in similar and different ways; these experiences shaped them into men who wanted equal education for all. To begin, one should understand the writers background. Sherman Alexie wrote about his life as a young Spokane Indian boy and the life he experienced (page 15). He wrote to encourage people to step outside their comfort zone and be herd throughout education. Similar to Alexie’s life experience, Fredrick
How? Malcolm taught himself completely while, Douglass taught himself some but mostly learned from others. Douglass made friends with all the white boys he met in the streets and converted them into teachers, he also bribed the poor boys to teach him with bread (Douglass 101). He ultimately got the idea to learn to write when he was in the shipyards. He learned letters and then was able to make four letter words which he used when he challenged other boys that he could write better than them, which gave him a good number of writing lessons ( Douglass 105). He also taught himself to write using a board fence, brick wall, and pavement as his copy book and a piece of chalk as his pen (Douglass 105). With Malcolm he completely taught himself how to write and read when he copied the dictionary. He did everything in the isolation of his cell where he could focus on only what he was doing and also staying up past lights out when he progressed to really serious reading ( Malcolm 2). They both had to sneak to read Douglass more than Malcolm. For Malcolm he only had to sneak to read after lights out. In contrast, Douglass would sneak books when he would go on errands so he wouldn’t get in trouble with his mistress and master, because they would punish him if they found
Frederick Douglass and Mark Twain very similar but they were also very different. Douglass and Twain both wrote stories during their lifetime. When they wrote their stories they would write about their past lives and their personal lives a well. They both grew up with brothers and sister but they were also had some differences in their lives. When Frederick Douglass would write he had to make the audience believe that his story was true. The reason why people didn’t believe him was because he was a former slave and they thought that he was just making this story up. So he had to be objective when writing his stories so that they would believe that he was telling the truth. He had Two sisters and one brother growing up but since he was born
If there was any one man who demonstrated the anger, the struggle, and the beliefs of African Americans in the 1960s, that man was Malcolm X. The African American cultural movement of the 1920s lost momentum in the 1930s because of worldwide economic depression. The Great Depression helped to divert attention from cultural to economic matters. Even before the stock market crash of 1929, unemployment and poverty among blacks was exceptionally high. It was under these difficult conditions that Malcolm X experienced his youth in the South. Malcolm X was a very controversial character in his time. He grew up in a very large family. His father hunted rabbits to sell to the white people for money, and his mother stayed home to take care of all the children. Several times when he was young, his family was forced to relocate due to the racist groups that would burn or run them out of their home like the Ku Klux Klan. One of these groups called the Black Legion killed his father by tying him to the railroad tracks. Malcolm’s father had life insurance but was not given to his family because they said that Earl Little had committed suicide. This was quite impossible because his head was bashed in and he tied himself to the railroad. Without his father’s income, Malcolm's family was forced to get government help and food. Applying for this type of assistance brought many white Social Workers into their home. They asked questions and interrogated the entire family. Malcolm’s mother always refused to talk or let them in.
History has revealed that it is through the struggles and difficulties, that the good men and women come to light for doing what is right. These revolutionary men and women risk their lives going against what is morally wrong and fight for what they believe is right. One of these revolutionaries was Frederick Douglass. He was revered for escaping for doing what many slaves never thought would be possible. Through the different stages in his life as a slave, a free man, and an abolitionist, he proved himself worthy of admiration and respect.
Through every single obstacle a person went through no one gave up. Colored people did not lose hope in becoming equal to white people because they knew they were capable. What the author was trying to prove was exactly that. Although blacks were slaves and were always belittled by white they proved to be more than what the whites thought they were capable of. They stood up for themselves and they did it in several events that occurred in the book. For example, in the chapter a black teenager, James Crawford, was not slightly intimidated by a deputy registrar that attempted to sound intimidating. In the conversation the registrar made some menacing remarks to this young African American teenager saying he would put a bullet through the teenagers head. Not afraid at all, Crawford valiantly told him if it happened he would be dead, but people would come from all over the world. This young man was not afraid to stand up for himself and was not going to tolerate it in any way. Malcolm X was another inspiration to African Americans for the way he stood up for them. He had a strong connection with the people who were influenced by him. In late 1964, Malcolm X told a group of black students from Mississippi, “You’ll get freedom by letting your enemy know that you’ll do anything to get your freedom; then you’ll get it” (Zinn 461). This quote connected to how
It was important for Frederick Douglass to learn to read because he could teach other slaves to read. In the excerpt, Douglass states, “Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell”(80). Knowledge was dangerous at this point in time. When Douglass taught slaves to read, he helped them gain some knowledge of themselves. He could also gain knowledge that his slave master did not want him to know such as roads or things that could aid in his escape. Douglass being able to read was significant because it made him an empowered black man. If Frederick Douglass never learned to read, he would not have been the political activist he was. He would have probably never escaped nor would he have shared the knowledge he gained.
Out of the turbulent political climate of the 1960s, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as some of the most prominent voices of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Both religious ministers took up the fight to advocate for human rights and improve the lot of their fellow African-Americans. The two sought to achieve the same endgame, but differed greatly on the method in which to bring about the change they wanted. A few common threads that linked the activists were their emphasis on human rights, their challenge to the status quo of America, their roles as major spiritual leaders in their respective religions, and the martyrdom they endured for their cause. On the surface Malcolm X and Martin Luther King have many similarities,
Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglas are both ideally similar but at the same time, vastly different. While their paths to freedom are not in line, they share the same views on the value of education. Likewise goals and methods are a point on which they do not agree. Neither of them lived a soft and easy life, but if you were to ask one of them, he would tell you that he lived life to the fullest and it was good.
A source of inspiration for this paper is Douglass’ retelling of learning his ABCs. Douglass recalls the moment when Mr. Auld scolds his wife, Mrs. Auld, for teaching Douglass. The reason why Douglass should not be educated is harrowing, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world” (Douglass 45). Consequently, this assertion of spoiling is caused by reading and literacy. Education gives Douglass the tools to question his existence resulting in a realization of oppression. Thus with the ability to read and write, he could escape by both literally and figuratively writing his own pass to freedom. From here Douglass realizes that the “...pathway from slavery to freedom...” was via education and that “...the argument which [Mr. Auld] so warmly waged, against my learning to read, only seemed to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn..” (Douglass 46). Passion and perseverance force Douglass to exchange ...
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. African Americans are fortunate to have leaders who have fought for a difference in Black America. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are two powerful men in particular who brought hope to blacks in the United States. Both preached the same message about Blacks having power and strength in the midst of all the hatred that surrounded them. Even though they shared the same dream of equality for their people, the tactics they implied to make these dreams a reality were very different. The background, environment and philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were largely responsible for the distinctly varying responses to American racism.
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
Society is so deceivable into believing that what is accepted by society is also correct and reasonable. One would not usually question the humanity of customs if one benefits in return. Frederick Douglass wrote The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass as a way to depict the development of a dehumanized slave progressing into a free man. Frederick Douglass did not start to reconstruct his own self identity until he broke the bindings of being ignorant which his masters placed upon him.
In history we know that no two men are alike but, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were phenomenal people and leaders. Both had visualized some type of change in the future, yet were not literally able to see it. Both Dr. King and Malcolm X set out to bring a sense of confidence to blacks all over the United States. Their main purpose was to help instill black’s power and strength so that they could overcome racial disparity and prejudice that surrounded them, but both of them had very unique and distinct different ways of promoting their message. Martin was more geared and focused on equality and wellness of the world as a whole, a Malcolm X’s personal interpretation of the world was very well blinded by anger, bitterness, and the desire to get revenge at the expense of the world that he thought treated him unfairly.