Malcolm X the Movie

I watched the movie Malcolm X and thought it was a great visual aid to illustrate the autobiography by Malcolm and Haley. I thought that Denzel Washington did a great job of portraying Malcolm X. He really brought to life his crazy life in Harlem in the beginning, and the influence of white people on him (frying his hair to make it straight and getting caught up in the looting business). I also thought it was great that the movie quoted word for word some of the passages in the book, for example his conversations with Baines in prison and some of his speeches towards the end of the movie. It is one thing to read about the character of Malcolm X, but for me, being a visual learner, I think seeing his life acted out on the screen will greatly help me to remember the legacy of Malcolm X.

In Chapter 7 of Loewen, "The Land of Opportunity," he talks about the fact that American history textbooks portray our country as equal, stating that we are composed largely of a middle class. We all think of America as the "land of opportunity," where anyone can turn rags into riches. Of course there are people who have proved that this is possible, but, as Loewen points out, the U.S. is a very stratified country in which "the richest fifth of the population earns twelve times as much income as the poorest fifth" (213.) It is also a place in which both poor, middle and upper class students believe that the situation of the poor is their own fault since they are not taught about the economic processes that keep the poor, poor, and the rich, rich. According to Loewen, our education is meritocratic, meaning that our social status is determined by personal merit, and thus, many of us believe that we get what we deserve.

What I really appreciated about Malcolm X was that his story forces us to come face to face with meritocracy from the perspective of the Black minority. Considering the fact that Blacks in Malcolm X composed the lower class and had low-level, underhanded jobs such as pimping, dealing and robbing, what would our meritocratic society tell us is the reason that Black people are in the situation they are in? Because they are smart enough or don't possess the skills to earn a better living like white people. Watching Malcolm X made me see that this is the way many people view lower-class minorities, when in reality, our society may be stratified because of the economic system. Or maybe it is because, according to the Critical Race Theory, the dominant white society has exploited Blacks based on their needs, meaning that, in the case of Harlem, whites' desire for prostitution and gambling and drugs forced African-Americans to fulfill that need by taking on those jobs.

As Loewen is constantly saying, there is so much that American history leaves out or omits on purpose, and this really has a crippling effect on the way people from different cultural backgrounds interact. I'm thankful for the story of Malcolm X, because it goes against the grain and exposes the ideas that textbook writers apparently don't want us to think about. And the fact that Malcolm's story was taken a step further and made into a movie is a bold step in this path to cultural awareness in our history.