Malcolm X Post I

As the novel progresses, I think that Malcolm is continually ethically and morally regressing. In Chapters 7-10, Malcolm increasingly turns to drugs and alcohol for sustenance and even encourages and draws more and more people down to his level such as his brother Reginald and his friends in Boston. This is illustrated by Haley when he states, "Between jobs, staying high on narcotics kept me from getting nervous" (Haley 112). There are some quotes and occurrences throughout these chapters which struck me as being very eye-opening. One of theses occurrences was how often people gambled in Harlem in those days when war was raging and other places of the country were suffering. I found it amazing that people such as Malcolm gambled DAILY in hopes of striking it big, but usually lost much more money then they gained. Another interesting quote was "She knew that crime existed only to the degree that law cooperated with it. She showed me how in the country's entire social, political and economic structure, the criminal, the law, and the politicians were inseparable partners" (Haley 119). This quote really was interesting because it demonstrated what occurred in old Harlem...politics were entwined in every matter and therefore showed the large amount of corruption that would take place back then. A third thing that surprised me in this section of reading was that Shorty and Sophie readily agreed to Malcolm's suggestion of starting robberies. I thought that they were better than that. A final statement which shocked me was "Boston had no specialty sex houses, just individual rich whites who had their private specialty desires catered to by Negroes who came to their houses...the predominantly old men, past the age of ability to conduct ordinary sex, always hunting for new ways to be sensative" (Haley 143). I thought this statement was shocking because of the mere obscenity of it and the fact that these old men hated Negroes but had their sexual desires catered by the very people which they hated. One article that I found that has relevance toward this topic is located at http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/sociocultural.shtml. This article suggests that white slaveholder's were OK about having sex with slaves, who they "owned" and considered inferior because it furthered their status in society as well as their slave holding (created more slave children). This article also relates that Christian missionaries of this time period implied that SEX WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVES WAS OK!! This article also mentions surprising statistics about African American and white rape victims today and how they experience different things; one of the most imteresting statistics that I think relates back to African American slavehood ancestry is that "African American women are more likely to blame their living circumstances for placing them at risk for victimization" than white women.

Malcolm X Post Regarding Chapters 1-6)

So far, Malcolm far has been an okay book in my opinion. In the beginning, the book starts off pretty slowly, and in a boring fashion. As the book progresses, it becomes more and more interesting. 

In the first two chapters, I find it amazing how ignorant white Americans were. Many white men and other members of the KKK had absolutely no regards for the condition of African Americans. In Malcolm's case, they killed his father, and left his mother and her eight children to fend for themselves without a second thought. They were also painstakingly ignorant when the Welfare people specifically attempted to break Malcolm's family apart. Haley specifically described this when he states, "I truly believe that if ever a state social state agency destroyed a family, it destroyed ours" (Haley 22). I thought that this action was very cruel; as the novel progresses it is also stunning to see how close Malcolm stay's with his family and how united they are, even though they live far apart. 

My thoughts on the next two chapters are very dismal. I think that Malcolm went downhill as soon as he moved to Boston. He started throwing away his sense of individuality and going around with other people he did not know. Far worse, he started horrible habits such as drinking, smoking, and taking reefers. Another part of these chapters that struck me as very odd and stupid was African American's willing to "conk" themselves and make themselves look more white. I think this action was pitiful- they lost their sense of uniqueness and underwent physical torture just so they could remotely resemble whites. I also find it amazing that there was such a racial difference in those times, and yet white females and African American males could date, and cause the African American to gain status. 

Ok. Now the last few chapters, 5 and 6. These chapters basically reflect Malcolm's initial fascination of Harlem to his eventual move there. First, Malcolm establishes a respectable career in Harlem as a train sandwich server. However, he eventually gets fired and then starts working at a bar in which he learns how to be a "hustler". This is where he goes wrong. He tells a undercover spy that he can find him a prostitute, and then gets caught, and therefore cannot work at the bar any longer. Now, Malcolm starts selling marijuana and other drugs to people. I foreshadow that this will eventually cause him to get caught and result in a huge change in his life. 

Ethic Notions Video; Thoughts and Impressions

I think that the Ethnic Notions video that we watched today in class was very eye opening. I would never have thought that African Americans were presented in such a ridiculous fashion. I think that such caricatures were very de-humanizing and undoubtedly led the African Americans to think of themselves in the horrible way which they were portrayed to be once they were exposed to such images for a long period of time.

I personally think that there are many stereotypes in the world today. People pretend to be something that they are really not; some people pretend to be kind, nice, and angelic when they are really out to get you. In the times of the Old South, African Americans were stereotyped so that people would support the slave-holders in their efforts to tame them. However today, in the free nation of America, people take on stereotypes willfully. I mean what's with that? Don't you want a certain sense of individuality? Imagine being Sambo in the olden days where you were portrayed as dumb and lazy. Wouldn't you want to be known for who you really are? My concluding thoughts on the relation of this video to real life are pretty simple-back then people didn't want to be stereotyped, and people today do unnecessarily, and for the wrong reasons. (I know-very deep).

Now, let me talk about myself personally. I am a sub-continental asian-look it up if you don't know what I'm referring too. One of the biggest stereotypes I face is that all people of my race are really smart, studious, and very concerned with our futures. I guess this is a good thing-but in my opinion, I'd rather not have any stereotype and be free to grow up establishing a reputation for myself of what I feel I should be, and not others (even though I'd still prefer being smart and studious). There is also that idea of hatred against people of my race because of outsourcing to our country. Let me makes this clear, companies choose to move to India because my fellow people are SMART AND HARD-WORKING, not because they intentionally want to steal jobs from the U.S. These are two of the biggest stereotypes of Indians which immediately come to mind to other people that sometimes angers me, and sometimes gives makes joyous.