Political Ideologies of Ralph Ellison & Malcolm X
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It was an era of racism, segregation and inequality during which Ralph Ellison and Malcolm X lived. Lacking equal protections in law comparable to Whites, African Americans endured second-class citizen status in American society during the first half of the twentieth century. Often subjected to prejudice and violence, African Americans like Ellison and Malcolm X formulated political ideologies to counteract the negative impact of such forces on African American identity and development. EllisonÆs ideology encourages a newfound awareness of Black identity that will enable to African American to emerge from his or her hibernation toward White injustice. Malcolm XÆs separatism eventually gave way toward Black unity and cooperation among races to end racism in American society, but for most of his life he encouraged any means necessary to combat White injustice. This analysis will compare and contrast the different political ideologies expressed in Invisible Man and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. In both Invisible Man and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, we see that one of the biggest challenges for African Americans living in a racist society dominated by Whites is the struggle to define identity. In Invisible Man, we see that narrator initially adopts an identity forged by Southern Whites. Later in the novel we see him identity with and then reject the ideology of the Black Nationalist Group in Harlem. However, despite the optimism this membership in
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atter how much I suffered I would pay my debt as quickly as possible and return to building my careerö (Ellison 133).
The internalizing of negative images of self led Malcolm X, as Detroit Red, into a life or vice and crime. His rebellious reaction to the injustices of racism cause him to enter into a self-admitted self-destructive phase, one during which he drowns in self-pity and engages in self-destructive behaviors. We see that from changing his dress to his hair style, Malcolm attempts to become more ôWhiteö during this period. However, this merely leads him away from his real self and into a lifestyle that offers no future and no escape. As we are told, ôEverything was building up, closing in on me. I was trapped in so many cross turns. West Indian Archie gunning for me. The Italians who thought IÆd stuck up their crap game after me. The scared kid hustler IÆd hit. The copsö (Malcolm X 132). Though Malcolm winds up in jail, it is during this phase of his existence he will undergo his most significant and longest-lasting transformation in identity and political ideology.
From a sociological perspective, we see the conflict theory of social problems seems to explain the reason why African Americans as a group have
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Approximate Word count = 1744
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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