Malcolm X

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Americans often say that Malcolm X was ¡°the angriest Negro in America¡± (p. 366). They assume that Malcolm X emphasized only violence to the white and separation of the black from the white. However, is this assumption about Malcolm X really true? Not, at all. The image of Malcolm X as an icon of ¡°black power¡± is not a truth but a myth made by media. Although I grant that Malcolm X had been a radical activist who had tried to improve life of the black and to separate the black from the white before quitting the Nation of Islam, I still argue that Malcolm X eventually realized that the white and the black could exist together with harmony under GOD, Allah, after Hajj. While orthodox Islam is completely a religion, the Nation of Islam is a religious socio-political organization not merely a religion. As a socio-political organization, the Nation of Islam aims at improving life of the black rather than worshiping GOD. Although the believers in the Nation of Islam would probably insist that the Nation of Islam is a religion which worships Allah and emphasizes Allah¡¯s saying, Qur¡¯an, I still believe that the Nation of Islam uses Islam as a tool to progress the black society rather than it merely believes it. For example, Malcolm X states, ¡°Imagine, being a Muslim minister, a leader in Elijah Muhammad¡¯s Nation of Islam, and not knowing the prayer ritual¡± (p. 326). In addition, in the later part, he writes, ¡°I couldn¡¯t understand what was being said¡± (p. 325). The fact that even Malcolm X who was one of the most important ministers of the Nation of Islam, did not know how to pray properly and read Arabic in which Qur¡¯an was written definitely shows that its main interest is the life of the black rather than Islam. As a solut... ... middle of paper ... ... non-white.¡± This sentence shows that Malcolm X¡¯s thought about racial discrimination absolutely changed. As can be shown above, Malcolm X was not the symbol of ¡°Black Power¡± as presented in media. Although he promoted the Black Power Movement to some extent by giving Afro-Americans the pride of being black, he never cried for wanton violence but cried for justice (p. 366). Also, in the end of his life, Malcolm X found that the separation was not the appropriate solution Allah wants. ¡°We were truly all the same brothers,¡± Malcolm says (p. 340). During his spiritual journey, Malcolm X had changed his ideas so much that Americans remember him as a radical activist as the representative of the Nation of Islam. Americans, however, should focus on the answer Malcolm X got in the end of the journey: with one belief, the white and the non-white can coexist peacefully.

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