Malcolm X's Political Ideologies (Term Paper Sample)

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Malcolm X Political Ideologies
Malcolm X also known as Malcolm Little was born in 1925, May 19 among eight children in Omaha. Earl Little, Malcolm’s father supported Back to Africa movement by Marcus Garvey and was a preacher at the Baptist Church. At the age of four Malcolm and his family moved to Michigan where his father attempted to open up a store while still preaching. He was however irritated by a group of white supremacists the Black Legion who stopped him from opening the store (Malcolm et al, 1992).
After two years, Malcolm X’s father is found dead after a car ran over him. Despite the fact that the report by police indicated that his death was an accident, Malcolm X believed strongly that his father’s death was not an accidents and that the Black Legion had murdered him and staged his body in a way that would appear like it was an accident. Following the death of his father, Louise Little his mother struggled to provide for her eight children. Malcolm began stealing candy and food from stores in the neighborhood to support his sisters and brothers. After being caught stealing too many times, there was a court ruling that Louise was unable to control him and he was placed under the care of a White couple who knew the family. Two years later Louise suffered a nervous breakdown due to the stress she was undergoing and was admitted to a mental hospital where she was held for twenty six years (Malcolm et al, 1992).
Growing up Malcolm had different attitudes towards his identity. It is earlier on in his life that the fact that his Black identity will not go away sinks in. He is referred to as nigger so many times that he begins believing that that is his name. In school, he is a very bright student and is even elected president of his class but this does not in any way affect his relations with White girls. His teacher even advices him against becoming a lawyer because he is Black and begins to teach him about racist propaganda (Malcolm et al, 1992).
The denunciation of Malcolm of Whites as devils did alarm the liberals from the Black and White community. Some of the members in the Nation of Islam took the argument made by Malcolm about the White devil literally. The blacks did not need to be in agreement with this point of view or join the Nation of Islam to show appreciation of the articulation by Malcolm about the ravages of racism, his demand that Black Americans be given monetary reparations and his refusal to fully corporate with the structure of white power (Tyner, 2013).
Malcolm did challenge the political economy that drove the Black workers to withstand unemployment rate twice higher than that of the Whites and to work for salary whose average was less than two thirds that of the Whites. In so doing, he started filling the political void that been left by groups that were legal oriented such as the trade union bureaucracy and NAACP, who even though committed to the civil rights were not active in opposing craft unions (Tyner, 2013).
Elijah Muhammad who played a huge part in shaping the life of Malcolm did know that the growing political appeal Malcolm had would not benefit the Muslims. Muhammad suspended Malcolm because of a comment he made about the assassination of United States president John F. Kennedy. Malcolm after learning the corrupt behavior of Muhammad left the Nation of Islam in the year 1964 and travelled to African and Mecca. This is when he met the Black African leaders and converted to orthodox Sunni Muslim. When he returned to New York, he made an announcement about the formation of OAAU (Organization of Afro American Unity) which was a Black nationalist organization. The organizations aim was building community organizations and Black enterprises that were independent, and registering Blacks for them to be able to vote independently so as to have control over the Black politicians (Tyner, 2013).
Malcolm’s increased radicalism did help in creation of a ...