Malcom X was a man known widely for his strong beliefs. His willingness to accept the preaching of Elijah Muhammad and serve him loyaly, was due to his past experiences with the white man. Starting off as a boy in Lansing, next moving to Boston, then living in Harlem, his experinces with various white people shaped his belief system. Towards the end of his life, his interaction with group of very different white people on his pilgrimage brought about a change in his beliefsWhile Malcom X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, most of the important events in his younger years took place after his family moved to Lansing, Michigan.
This move occurred after a group of whites burned down their house while ‘the white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned to the ground’ (p. 3), and were more interested in about the pistol Malcom’s father used to shoot at the fleeing arsons.In Lansing, Malcom’s father preaches the teachings of Marcus Garvey and his ‘Back to Africa’ movement. His earliest memories in Lansing are of his family being harassed by the Klu Klux Klan and the Black Legion, and then of these hate groups murdering his father in cold blood. Such a tragedy most certainly had a profound impact on Malcom, and his perception of the white man. To make matters much worse, his mother began to breakdown at the hands of the white man.
After his fathers death, Malcom’s mother was left having to take care of the eight children herself. She was often able to get housekeeping jobs in the white suburbs due to her light complexion, yet when they found out she was a black woman, she was promptly fired. The welfare workers are what Malcom X believes really destroyed his mother, and tore apart their family. Malcom’s mother hated accepting charity, and the social workers intruder on her life to such a degree, that she felt she had no control over her family. This time in MalcomsThis feeling of helplessness ruined her mental state, and caused the break up of Malcom’s family. Malcom is then sent to live with the Gohannanes believes really destroyed his mother, and tore apart their family.
Malcom’s mother hated accepting charity, and the social workers intruder on her life to such a degree, that she felt she had no control over her family. This time in MalcomsThis feeling of helplessness ruined her mental state, and caused the break up of Malcom’s family. Malcom is then sent to live with the GohannanesWhile Malcom X was born in Omaha, Nebraska, most of the important events in his younger years took place after his family moved to Lansing, Michigan. This move occurred after a group of whites burned down their house while ‘the white police and firemen came and stood around watching as the house burned to the ground’ (p. 3), and were more interested in about the pistol Malcom’s father used to shoot at the fleeing arsons.In Lansing, Malcom’s father preaches the teachings of Marcus Garvey and his ‘Back to Africa’ movement. His earliest memories in Lansing are of his family being harassed by the Klu Klux Klan and the Black Legion, and then of these hate groups murdering his father in cold blood.
Such a tragedy most certainly had a profound impact on Malcom, and his perception of the white man. To make matters much worse, his mother began to breakdown at the hands of the white man. After his fathers death, Malcom’s mother was left having to take care of the eight children herself. She was often able to get housekeeping jobs in the white suburbs due to her light complexion, yet when they found out she was a black woman, she was promptly fired. The welfare workers are what Malcom X believes really destroyed his mother, and tore apart their family. Malcom’s mother hated accepting charity, and the social workers intruder on her life to such a degree, that she felt she had no control over her family.
This feeling of helplessness ruined her mental state, and caused the break up of Malcom’s family. Malcom is then sent to live with the Gohannanes. It is at this phase in his life that he tries to assimilate. The upperclass whites trreat him like a pet and call him ‘nigger’ to his face, while thinking nothing of it.
