Autobiography of Malcolm X, Lesson 4, Chapters 13-15
Study Questions
One. What begins Malcolm’s mission in Chapter 13?
To proselytize (preach to) his black Americans so they will “wake up” from the nightmare of white supremacy and find their identity, which was stolen by "white history."
Many have said that Malcolm was a “therapist” for black Americans, helping them purge the self-hatred resulting from the sick religion of white supremacy.
Part of Malcolm’s work was to enlighten black Americans on the horrors of slavery, for many blacks the white man taught that slavery was as a “beautiful, romantic” period in American history had taught slavery when everyone “knew their place” (312).
Educating black men and women on the details of slavery created an intense reaction that helped Malcolm’s cause.
He educated them about how the blond, blue-eyed Jesus was part of the "whiteness religion" in which white people took religion and history and “whitewashed” it for their own purposes (320).
During the Black Power Movement of the 1960s, many African Americans had black Jesus paintings in their homes.
Two. What kind of control did Elijah Muhammad have over his disciples, including Malcolm?
They could not drink alcohol, eat pork, fornicate, dance, go to movies, attend sporting events, gamble, or take long vacations (322). The quest for purity was a top priority, which made the leader's transgressions all the more dramatic.
Malcolm made his life even tougher, denying himself all women, since he believed he didn’t have the time to love one properly. Then everything changes when he met Sister Betty X, but he wanted Elijah Muhammad’s approval.
Three. McMahon says no one should be shocked that an organization like the Black Muslim Movement was born in America with the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and impassioned disciples like Malcolm X, that such a movement in America was inevitable. Explain.
We learn from Malcolm’s autobiography that whites terrorized his life physically, psychologically, and spiritually and that something that evil required a counter-reaction, of equal intensity, to combat the terror.
I would be shocked if such an organization never emerged in the American scene.
Malcolm says on page 340 that America was terrified of the truth about black Americans, that there was justified anger roiling underneath their façade of friendliness to the whites, that whites always had their “handpicked Negroes” who were treated better than the black masses because the whites could make these “handpicked Negroes” relatively happy and then the whites could say to themselves, “See, I’m not so bad. I make the blacks happy. No reason to feel guilty for slavery, Jim Crow, and the doctrines of white supremacy.”
Malcolm on page 345 said these “handpick Negroes” were the pacifying black professors and other prominent figures that criticized the Nation of Islam. He was a fan-boy for his leader.
On page 349 we read that Malcolm believed that white Christianity performed a huge miracle by keeping over 20 million black Americans from revolting in a violent insurrection because this white religion had pacified them.
He even debated Martin Luther King and accused MLK of making black people “defenseless.” So there was a schism between the two leaders though Malcolm's critics failed to point out the leaders' common purpose and reconciliation.
Four. In his vehemence and zeal to purge the white supremacy poison from his system, what area may have Malcolm been misguided in?
On page 348, he said no “sane white man” wanted integration with black people and also that no “sane black man” wanted integration with white people. A sane black person would know that any integration was “token,” not widespread and authentic.
He said he didn’t want segregation; he wanted complete separation from the white race.
But in fact, in today’s America people are so diverse in their mixture of background that “race” for many people, in cosmopolitan cities especially, is downplayed and in some ways we are becoming a more “colorblind” society.
In fact, Malcolm would later see skin color as less relevant during his final years of his life; he realized it was a person’s ideology that determined that person’s character.
Five. Malcolm argues that assimilation is a farce and a danger and explains how the Irish kicked out the British on pages 383 and 384. Explain.
In the process of assimilation, the oppressor always has his way and exterminates the culture and identity of the oppressed for his own purposes.
Brainstorming for Your Essay
Malcolm X was self-taught in prison.
He had to unlearn self-hating, internalized racism that was stuffed down his throat all his life.
He had to unlearn a fake US history that painted white people as innocent, God-loving, good people and blacks as subhumans who didn't deserve to be afforded dignity or their basic humanity.
He had to unlearn a false America described above.
He developed a love for his people, a disgraced people whose dignity needed to be restored.
He was committed to helping black Americans unlearn the lies white America told them and learn a new narrative.
Malcolm's new narrative from Elijah Muhammad was extreme but it purged Malcolm's self-hatred.
So in love with gratitude for Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm was deceived by a corrupt leader and again Malcolm had to unlearn a false doctrine. Malcolm went to Mecca and became a universal Muslim who saw evil, not as a skin color issue, but as a spiritual issue.
During this second evolution, Malcolm was a target from Elijah Muhammad and his people for at least two reasons: One, Malcolm knew about Elijah's affairs with his secretaries and this was a huge scandal from a man who said to follow him one must be pure.
Secondly, there was jealousy as Malcolm was becoming the world's greatest champion of black rights.
Malcolm X critics say his book has exaggerations that make Malcolm into a myth. Perhaps that is partly true.
Malcolm X critics say Malcolm was a hate-monger who didn't use peace the way Martin Luther King did. Others say, Malcolm's rage was justified. We see this controversy here.
Thesis That Defends Malcolm X with a Concession Clause
While Malcolm X was far from a perfect man, prone to hate-mongering demons, venomous demagoguery, and less than accurate details in his Autobiography, his overall force as a champion for human rights is undeniable when we consider ___________, ________________, _______________, __________________, and _________________.
Another Thesis That Defends Malcolm X with a Concession Clause
Even though we can ascribe major faults in Malcolm X’s character, including exaggerations in his Autobiography, an unsavory, blind commitment to the corrupt Elijah Muhammad, and an irrational castigation of the entire white race, his evolution, integrity, and power as a champion for restoring dignity to an oppressed people is evidenced by __________________, ___________________, ___________________, and _____________________.
Thesis That Refutes Malcolm X with a Concession Clause
While Malcolm X played an important role in America’s dialogue about racism and the country’s false history of freedom and innocence, Malcolm X cannot qualify as a great human rights leader, along the likes of Martin Luther King, because ___________________, _________________, ________________, and _____________________.
Although Malcolm X spoke an urgent truth to the condition of racism afflicting black people in America, his overall message collapses when we consider ___________________, ______________________, __________________, and _______________________.
In-class Exercise:
Work on a thesis with a concession clause. I recommend that you transition this thesis from your introduction.
Was Malcolm's "reinvention" the mark of a fraud or the mark of a man with integrity and greatness?
Some Points I Would Cover If I Were Writing the Essay
1. More than any black leader, Malcolm X exposed the psychology of white supremacy and its resulting learned self-hatred in the black community.
2. More than any black leader, Malcolm X instilled pride and a sense of real history in the black community.
3. More than any black leader, Malcolm X made white America accountable for the human rights nightmare that was embedded in their system of white privilege.
4. Malcolm X championed the value of education, language, history, discipline, and critical thinking as part of his personal transformation and his desire to transform others for a better world.
5. Malcolm X was a model of uncompromising courage and sacrifice in order to lift his people out of the degradation of racism.
Counterarguments
1. Malcolm X was a fan-boy or Kool-Aid drinker for Elijah Muhammad who proved to be a charlatan.
2. Malcolm X was a racist in that he hated people based on skin color, not their character and therefore he was guilty of the very thing he claimed to despise.
3. Malcolm was prejudiced against women; therefore, he was guilty of prejudice, the very thing he claimed to be against. We see his misogyny (hatred of women) discussed in the article "Did Malcolm X Hate Women?"
Here is a balanced essay that addresses claims that Malcolm X was a misogynist.
Here is a fantastic essay that covers Malcolm X's complexities: "Malcolm X: The Man Behind the Myth."
Mesa College has a good counteragument essay structure example and explanation.
While opponents of my subject make some good points against my position, they are in the larger sense wrong when we consider that they fail to see and interpret correctly ____________, ______________, _______________, and _______________.
How to Set Up a Counterargument in Your Rebuttal Section (The Templates)
Some of my critics will dismiss my claim that . . . but they are in error when we look closely at . . .
Some readers will 0bject to my argument that . . . However, their disagreement is misguided when we consider that . . .
Some opponents will be hostile to my claim that . . . However, their hostility is unfounded when we examine . . .
While Author X is guilty of several weaknesses as described by her opponents, her agument holds up to close examination in the areas of _________________, ______________, _____________, and ______________.
Even though author X shows weakness in her agument, such as __________ and ____________, she is nevertheless convincing because . . .
While author X makes many compelling points, her overall argument collapses under the weight of __________, ___________, ___________, and ______________.
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