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Life of Malcolm X

ence on charity. His mother was a proud woman, and Malcolm retained this same pride, trying not to succumb to the white oppression that broke up the Little family. His mother eventually broke down because of the insensitive welfare treatment and was committed to an institution. Malcolm said that his mother became a statistic of a society that crushes people and then penalizes them for not being able to stand up under the weight (Rajiv, 1992, p. 85).

Malcolm's awareness of the pigment of his skin came first through his family and then from the outer world. At the age of five (when he started school), Malcolm was called "Nigger", "Darkie", and "Rastus" by the white children. He learned as a teenager that he could not participate in the conventional white dances, and Malcolm eventually ended up in a detention home and reform school (Haley, 1965, p. 35) . In reform school he felt that people talked around him, even when he was right there, as if they did not see him or feel I his actual physical presence.

In spite of these difficulties, Malcolm did well in school, played on the basketballl team, and worked in a restaurant. He was viewed as a 1uccess by his peers, brothers and sisters (Rajiv, 199~, p. 86) .Well into his teens Malcolm had the idea that 1e could make it like any white person until a critical conversation took place between himself and Mr. ostrowsk1, his English teacher regarding a possible choice for career. Malcolm wanted to be an attorney and the teacher replied that that was not a realistic goal for a 'nigger' (Rajiv, 1992, p. 87) .It was suggested that he take up carpentry or masonry instead.

At this point in his development, Malcolm started to make some profound changes within. He made a geographic move to Boston, in order to widen opportunities for himself and construct a new identity. He went through a process of destroying the old identity and tying new alliances that were in keeping with the new identity (...

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Life of Malcolm X. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 09:20, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1702079.html