Michael McLean
July 18, 2008
APUSH
Summer Essay
Malcolm X
“Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on
the plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in
America doesn’t make you an American” (Malcolm X, 1965).This quote, made by the
revolutionary civil rights activist, Malcolm X, is an inconceivably stimulating and
intriguing statement, which can offer multiple interpretations. One could construe it as
the idea that African Americans are abused and mistreated in our U.S. society, the
thought that blacks and whites should be segregated, or even simply that the accepted
definition of an American is erroneous.
“Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of
their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society
dominating them” (King). Martin Luther King Jr. said this as he described the plight
faced by African Americans, from the roots of the nation to the civil rights movement. He
states that society “dominates” them, keeping them down with untruthful stereotypes and
racist feelings. Malcolm X clearly agreed with this idea, as he frequently spoke out
against the profusion of injustices that his race faced in the United States (for example, in
the aforementioned quote, he states that African Americans don’t get to eat any of what’s
on the plate). In his autobiography, Malcolm X also says, “All of us - who might have
probed space, or cured cancer, or built industries - were, instead, black victims of the
white man’s American social system” (Malcolm X, 93). In the autobiography, he
describes multiple occasions on which the white man’s social system deems him inferior,
simply based on the color of his skin. For example, on one such occasion, one of
Malcolm’s school teachers laughs at his dreams of becoming a lawyer, despite his
excellent marks (Malcolm X, 38). At this moment it becomes painfully clear that there is
no hope even for a highly intelligent African-American, and that he will always be
judged solely by his race. Therefore, it becomes obvious to young Malcolm that there is
only one solution to the racism that he thinks he will always face: segregation.
One of Malcolm X’s more radical ideas was the idea that white people and black
people should be segregated. He felt that there should be an African nation (with the
official religion being Islam, since many Muslims, including Islamist leader Elijah
Muhammad, believed that white people were the devil), where his race would be free of
persecution (Malcolm X, 224). He justifies these thoughts with his life experiences:
throughout Malcolm X’s life, almost every white man he knew hurt him in some way.
His father was killed by white people, his mother was sent to a mental hospital by them,
and they eventually arrested him. He felt that even nice, liberal white folk always treated
him differently and never considered him as an equal (Malcolm X, 40). Malcolm X truly
believed that African Americans were brainwashed into trying to become a part of a
society that would not accept them. Even as a young teenager in Boston, he realized that
by giving himself a conk hairstyle (which involves painfully straightening one’s natural
African American hair), he is not improving his social status or changing who he is, he is
merely hiding from himself and denying his true form (Malcolm X, 56). When he says
“Being here in America doesn’t make you an American,” (Malcolm X, 1965) it could be
construed as his plan to segregate, and establish a nation based on Islam and racial
freedom (or at least a place where black people can experience racial freedom). Once
Malcolm X even said, “We're not Americans, we're Africans who happen to be in
America. We were kidnapped and brought here against our will from Africa. We didn't
land on Plymouth Rock - that rock landed on us” (Goldman, 157). Malcolm X’s feelings
about race relations are evident throughout his autobiography, but he also discusses what
it means to be an American.
“No I'm not an American, I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the
victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of
democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy.... I'm speaking as a victim of this American
system. And I see America through the eyes of a victim. I don't see any American dream;
I see an American nightmare” (Malcolm X, 1965). Malcolm X feels victimized by
America, because black people had lower wages than whites for the same job, seventyfive percent of blacks had menial jobs, half of all blacks lived in poverty housing, twice
as many blacks as whites were unemployed, infant mortality in blacks was twice that of
whites, black schools received less money per student than white schools, and a much
smaller percentage of blacks compared to whites attended college (Martin Luther King
Jr., 1967). Malcolm X’s quote is in fact the rest of the first quote, in which he states that
being born here does not mean that you belong here. His definition of an American is
someone that came here by choice, and not someone who was put on slave ships,
mistreated for hundreds of years and then kept from achieving equality. In other words,
the American dream is supposed to represent freedom and fairness, not bondage (both
figurative and literal) and discrimination. Malcolm X clearly recognizes that the
American dream is not available to him or to most blacks in this era, before the civil
rights movement.
The autobiography describes a harsh life, in which our American society (at the
time) victimized, tortured and attempted to suppress a young African American named
Malcolm X. It is apparent why he devoted his life to improving race relations and
fighting injustice. Three of his principal beliefs included that African Americans deserve
equality, the only way to acquire that equality was by creating a black Islamic nation, and
being in America does not automatically make you an American. To quote Nelson
Mandela, in a quote that truly sums up Malcolm X’s hurtle filled yet triumphant lifetime,
“There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through
the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our
desires” (Mandela, 1986)
Mike, good 1st APUSH paper. You included some good OI (outside
Info) and support from novel. Some good analysis, but it is lacking a strong
thesis, which provides the focus for the whole paper. Also need to deepen
analysis of the prompt and make sure you address it fully. Lacking in
political and economic (a little). Again, overall good 1st paper, you show
lots of promise in the this class.
Works Cited
Goldman, Peter L. The Death and Life of Malcolm X. New York: University of Illinois
P, 1979.
King, Martin L. "A Call to Conscience." The Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. 16 Aug.
1967. 18 Aug. 2008
<http://www.stanford.edu/group/king/publications/speeches/where_do_we_go_from_her
e.html>.
Mandela, Nelson, and Walter Sisulu. No Easy Walk to Freedom. New York: Heinemann
International Inc., 1986.
X., Malcolm, Alex Haley, and M. S. Handler. Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York:
Broadway Books, 1998.
X., Malcolm. "Education Tips." Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you
eat some of what’s on the plate.? 3 Apr. 1964. 18 Aug. 2008
<http://sasalog.com/quotations/24-quotations-39437.html>.