Malcolm X: Violence = Equality

Alianny Cabrera

Ms. Snyder

US History Honors

6/4/12

Malcolm X: Violence = Equality

"When a person places the proper value on freedom, there is nothing under the sun that he will not do to acquire that freedom. Whenever you hear a man saying he wants freedom, but in the next breath he is going to tell you what he won't do to get it, or what he doesn't believe in doing in order to get it, he doesn't believe in freedom. A man who believes in freedom will do anything under the sun to acquire . . . or preserve his freedom (Malcolm X)." Malcolm X was a Civil Rights leader and advocate who believed in obtaining equality among African Americans no matter what it took. If oppressors came with violence, he believed it was right to use violence against those oppressors to defend oneself. His way of thinking developed from prior life discrimination and being forced to believe that blacks were inferior at a young age.

Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was the 4th son of Louise and Earl Little. His father formed part of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and was an avid supporter of the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. In result his family suffered many racist attacks from white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and others. Eventually Earl Little’s body was found laid out on the municipal streetcar tracks; the incident was said to have been suicide even though everything looked like an attack from a white supremacist group (Malcolm X. Biography). His mother couldn’t handle his father’s death and was sent to a mental institution. Malcolm X and his 7 siblings were sent into various foster homes and orphanages. Malcolm was very smart and dedicated to learning, but after one of his favorite teacher told him that his dream of becoming a lawyer was “no realistic goal for a nigger” he lost interest in school (Malcolm X).

Malcolm X’s life went downhill from there since he got involve illegal jobs, drugs and burglary. By 1942 Malcolm was coordinating various narcotics, prostitution and gambling rings (Malcolm X). Four years later Malcolm and his friend Malcolm "Shorty" Jarvis were arrested and convicted on burglary charges; Malcolm was sentenced to 10 years. While in jail he continued to further his education while his brother Reginald will visit him and talked to him about the Muslim religion. He became interested in the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Muhammad taught that the white society kept the African Americans from empowering themselves, and achieving political, economic and social success. When Malcolm was paroled in 1952, he became a devoted follower of Muhammad. He gave himself the surname X because he considered “Little” a slave name and chose