Malcom X.3.Nothing.

"She demanded, right up in my face, 'Don't you believe there are any good white people?' I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I told her, 'People's deeds I believe in, Miss--not their words.'

'What can I do?' she exclaimed. I told her, 'Nothing.' She burst out crying, and ran out and up Lenox Avenue and caught a taxi.'" (Haley 292) 

So there is this weak, small, white college girl. She was moved so much by one of Malcom's speeches that she catches the next plane to NYC and tracks him down in a Muslim restaurant. She walks up to Malcom X. She asks him "what can I do?", "How can I start living in a way so that I can try and make up my debt to the blacks in America?" This girl is completely ready to turn her life around, to start fighting for the underprivileged Negroes, for Malcom. All Malcom needs to do is speak the word. Instead...he says he doesn't trust her. He tells her straight out that there is nothing for her to do. Nothing. Nothing at all. 

WHAT?!?!? Nothing. What do you mean nothing?

I mean there is absolutely no way for whites to make up the sins of their forefathers to blacks. 

Okay then. Fine.

Sorry, I sound sort of schizophrenic. Anyways, this part of the book really shocked me. I couldn't believe just how deep Malcom's belief of the "devil, white man" really went. This short, less than a page section, however, finally got it into my brain. Malcom X truly hated white people. We white people really do expect other races to like us because we personally didn't do anything besides continue the thoughts of supremacy that our ancestors worked into our brains. I do think, however, that Malcom's statement that we can't do anything was a step too far. Seriously, what a pessimist. 

So I tried to find a video of Malcom speaking along this topic, and I stumbled upon a video of Malcom speaking about how Islam can help erase racism in America.  It was filmed after his trip to Mecca, and after he had spent time with Muslim white men (a time which I haven't gotten to in his autobiography yet, I'm only up to chpt. 15). I find it interesting how he avoids the question of whether or not his opinion of the white man had changed. He just talks about how there was a feeling of "brotherhood" between the white men, no matter their skin color. He feels that Islam is the answer to racism problems in America. Hmmmm...so he met white muslims there that he said "looked upon themselves as part of the human family" and who looked at everyone else in the world, no matter the skin color, also as part of that family. I find it sort of hypocritical that he accepts those white men, but not the american white men, or even the little, white college girl, who was just as willing to accept him as the Arab, Muslim, white men. 

I do think he was right, however, to bring up the idea that maybe if Islam were taught to all Americans, some racism problems would be fixed. I don't agree with this statement, but I see the truth in it. People who are devoted to a religion often have higher moral standards because they have a set of rules written out for them. I think, however, that if Islam continued to spread in the U.S., as it has, then it will eventually get the same hypocritical labels on it that Christianity and Judaism have, which it has. The reason being that no human can uphold and stay completely true to their beliefs. Everyone messes up. Everyone slips sometimes. There are Christians that are racist. There are buddhists that are racist. There are Jews who are racist. There are atheists who are racists. And there are muslims who are racist. 

As a Christian, I have been attacked by people for what they think of the church. They call me a hypocrite or homophobic. These are two stereotypes that I hear about myself over and over and over again. The truth is, I see the hypocrisy of the church every day. I see how they say to love everyone and then deny that love to people that are different from them or who have messed up. Overall, am I a hypocrite and homophobe, like parts of the church? Ummm, I sure hope not! But do I slip up and have thoughts that are either hypocritical or homophobic sometimes? Sure...just like everyone else in the world. The important thing is that I'm trying to change that. I do my best to fully understand what my religion entails so that I know if I am being hypocritical. I try to love all people and just disagree with what they are doing, not who they are as people. I may disagree with a person's actions but I sure try to love them the same way I love the people who have the same moral standards as I do. Unfortunately, many "Christians" don't even know what their religion is truly about and haven't even read through their own scriptures. People like me, are then judged based on what those Christians say or do in the name of God. People should research what the beliefs are of whatever religion they plan to follow before associating themselves with it. A religion isn't inherited, it is adopted. 

So this brings me back to the small, white college girl. It hurt me when Malcom said she couldn't change the stereotype that had been placed on her. It was painful to think of how she was ridden with guilt and yet Malcom was not willing to relieve her of it. People do have the power to make a difference in the way they act towards other people groups. Malcom's answer of "Nothing" just won't cut it for me. People need to try and show that they aren't what people generalize them to be. I need to try and show that I'm not what people generalize me to be. 

Malcom X.1.wowzers.

Wow...

That is how I feel about chapters seven to ten. Wow...

I guess we often feel that great leaders come from difficult backgrounds. Divorced parents maybe, a bad neighborhood, motherless, fatherless, the loss of a close sibling, poverty-stricken, sickness, etc. Many leaders are conquerers of some sort of challenge or misfortune, able to stand back up and lead others to do the same. Malcom X, however, went through a heck of a lot more than most people do. I was shocked as I read through the book at just how low he stooped and how involved he got. He was reduced to an animal addicted to drugs, involved in scandals and robbery. Malcom describes his mental situation in chapter nine:

"I viewed narcotics as most people regard food. I wore my guns as today I wear my neckties. Deep down, I actually believed that after living as fully as humanly possible, one should then die violently. I expected then, as I still expect today, to die at any time. But then, I think I deliberately invited death in many, sometimes insane, ways." (Haley 141)

Though Malcom's story of his teenage years amazed me, his ability to overcome it, and the way he decides to overcome it, shocks me still. Although I have not read to the point where he actually decides to turn his life around and start living for his god, Allah, I know enough about his life to realize the difficulty of that act. Its amazing that someone coming from his situation would be able to turn his life around so thoroughly. There were also a few passages in chapter 10 that showed his amazing self restraint and self motivation. Malcom had an incredible power over his body. For example, when Malcom's brother Reginald writes to him and says that he should stop eating pork and stop smoking cigarettes for a chance to get out of prison, Malcom immediately obeys for the chance at freedom. Malcom wanted to be free so badly that he was able to stop his addiction to cigarettes, and did not smoke ever again after 1948. He had no struggle in doing this, he writes about his quitting in one simple paragraph. I can't imagine, how much strength it takes for someone who had been living like him to give up something so simply. Mind over matter, I suppose, or just finally having hope. Malcom's ability to take control of his life just plain amazes me.

I also have a friend who overcame drug abuse when he became a Christian. Joe, as I will call him, had become completely dependent on drugs. He doesn't like to talk about the details of his teenage years, but I know that he was depressed, immoral, and overall, unhappy with the way his life was turning out. Joe was eventually introduced to Christ through family and friends. He was able to turn his life around, quitting drugs and other immoral acts he was involved in. Joe has since then become a missionary in Africa. He spent more than a year witnessing to muslims in Morocco, learning their language, forming personal relationships with them, learning to love as unconditionally as possible, and realizing how important it is to be strong and sure in his faith. His life is completely dedicated to Christ, and I am inspired by that fact. The following link has videos of many different inspiring Christian testimonies: http://www.precious-testimonies.com/TestimonyCategories/SampleTopics/BAvideosIndex.html . The second has various muslim testimonies: http://www.answering-islam.org/Testimonies/index.html . It is clear that no matter what the religion is, testimonies are powerful and show just how much, even the hope of having a God, can change a person's life. 

So wow...