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How Did Malcolm X's Life Influenced As A Civil Rights Leader?

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How Did Malcolm X's Life Influenced As A Civil Rights Leader?
How did Malcolm X’s early experiences in life influence his approach as a Civil Rights leader?
3 Comments * * MHS Student 
on August 15, 2012

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Christian Alex Amezquita- Malcolm X has had a lot of events happen early in his life that has affected/shaped him throughout his entire life. For example, there was that time when the welfare workers came to Malcolm's house to split up his family and send his mom to an insane asylum (Kalamazoo). In addition, Malcolm was put with a white family whom treated him like an over glorified dog. He never could feel as if he was one of them, but always felt that he was beneath them. Furthermore, Malcolm's teacher telling him that he could not become a lawyer because of his color really had an impact on him. All of these events gave Malcolm a good reason to become a Civil Rights leader. These events where the wood to his fire and Elijah Muhammad was his flint and steel.
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Malcolm’s mom was part white, so Malcolm was born the lightest of all the children and experienced discrimination within his family. His father was brainwashed to think that anything closer to being white was better, so he treated Malcolm the best while his mother, hated the fact that she had “white rapist blood” in her and treated Malcolm the worst, because he was a constant reminder of it. When he moved to Boston, he saw all around him, a bunch of brainwashed black people. “They prided themselves on being incomparably more “cultured,” “cultivated,” “dignified,” and better off than their black brethren down in the ghetto, which was no further away then you could throw a rock” (Haley 42). Malcolm had very strong opinions about white people and black people, and liked to spread what he believed in which made him fit to be a Civil Rights leader. -Pearl

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