Arnold Harris on Malcolm X
Dean
From our thread on Malcolm X. --Dean
I remember the relatively innocent times in which Malcolm Little [aka Malcolm X] arose into the American consciouslness from the obsurity of the ghetto. I'm talking late 1950s.
He was so damned honest and straightforward. You almost had to respect that quality in him despite that he was hardwired all wrong for the country is he was living in, the religion he adopted, and much else.
One day, some liberal was flapping his or her mouth about him being an American. He must have gotten p*ssed at the stupidity of whatever comment he reacted to, because he replied:
"Being born in Omaha doesn't make me an American any more than being born in an oven makes a cat a biscuit."
He was at the top of the class of his junior high school. One day he told one of his teachers, whom he had previously respected, about his dreams of attending a law school. The teacher replied to him that law school was "no realistic goal for a n*gger."
For Malcolm, that incident was said to have marked the terminus of his efforts to make a life for himself as an American. Which was really too bad. We could all have profited from his wit, his honesty, his intelligence, his fearlessness, his straightforwardness. And above all, his integrity. Because all that he had.
I respected him, and I still do. In some fundamental way that I have difficulty explaining to anyone.
So I'm sorry about you, Malcolm. I wish I could have been there for you that day. And cut that teacher's f**king throat, right in your presence.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Arnold brought to my attention just what a remarkable man he truly was.
....and ssssue the teacher. ha! ha! ha! ha!
Growing up in Detroit Wayne County in the 50's and 60's it was apparent that Malcolm was not the black national savior icon which revisionists and others may portend.
Meanwhile, the real killers somehow got away.
I stand by what I wrote. Malcolm was a great leader of the african-american nation, and I think he was assassinated because toward the time of his public murder in February 1965, he was showing signs of becoming an even greater one. Which indicated to me, and still does, that the old leadership of the organization to which he had affiliated may have felt jealous enough to kill him.
Anyway, Malcolm. You had as much right to call yourself an American as anyone else born in this land. And to define it in your own terms, like many of the rest of us do. Last time I heard, Omaha was right in the middle of the United States of America. So rest in peace.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
He was hit by other members of the gang because they were worried he was going to take too much of the action...
Dean,
You and I differ on this...but find me the difference between what Malcolm said and what, say, Sharpton says...
Malcolm was talking people into separating themselves from right and truth and becoming the bondsmen of people who would tell them how to live and think...he was a con artist in the worst sense of the word and one of the most baleful things to happen in America this past 40 years has been the glorification of this second-rate huckster.
1) Have you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X?
2) Failing that, did you see Spike Lee's movie?
Please note: I am not asking this question to trap you, or to get self-righteous on you. It is entirely possible to reach a rational conclusion on Malcolm and still say "no" to both questions. But, I really want to know: can you say "yes" to either question?
It matters my friend. Because I think you may be overlooking and dismissing one of your fellow conservatives if you haven't.