Before opening this book, I had never really heard anything about Malcolm X. But I quickly found out what an interesting life he led. He had a lot of opinions, some of which I agreed with, some of which I did not.
For instance, I do think that in Malcolm's society, and even our own, there was a terrible cycle that allowed certain people to remain in power and while never giving others a reasonable opportunity to make it. The family social worker and Malcolm's grade school teacher not only kept an opportunity to succeed from him, but they struggled to keep him away from one. In instances like this, I agree with Malcolm when he says they (the white people keepin’ him down) were the enemy, and that it was important for him to point out who they were. Malcolm certainly led a hard life, and for him to be able to self reflect as much as he does in his autobiography is great. This enables him to spread some really important truths.
However, there were some things he mentions in his book that I did not, at all, agree with. For instance, it’s was obviously difficult to read page after page about what “devils” all white people are. I understand that he has a change of heart towards the end of the book, but currently, I don’t agree with him. I understand what he was trying to accomplish with this generalization, but I still think it was right. Also, I think that all of his claims about women are almost laughable. The idea that women are by nature weaker than men, and therefore need and search for a strong man to keep them in check is ridiculous. I feel so passionately against it, that it almost takes away from the book.
But overall, I think Malcolm X, on most issues, hits the spot.
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