Malcolm X Speeches
In 1964, Malcolm X had presented a speech to the public, about our country, and its racial issues. He talked about two different types of Afro- Americans in the United States of America with conflicting persepectives.
In 1964, Malcolm X had presented a speech to the public, and in this speech he spoke about our country and its racial issues. He continued to talk about two different types of Afro- Americans in the United States of America. These two different types of Afro- Americans are described to conflict very much with each other's perspectives.
First, there is the type who looks upon himself as a minority. He thinks of himself as inferior to whites. He sees the whites as a majority to his race, and doesn’t see that he/ she is being treated unequally in society. Therefore, he doesn’t feel there is reason for him/ her to fight for his/ her rights for equality. The reason for them not seeing why they should be fighting for their rights is because he/ she can only see how the United States and its people are being governed. They don’t recognize that society should be one governed equally, not one that judges a person by their race, sex, or other discriminatory factor as one would be in an ideal society.
Then you have the type that looks upon himself as part of the majority and you as part of a force that may be holding him/ her back. This type of Afro- American is described as one who believes he has to fight for his rights, not beg. This type shouldn’t have to thank the whites for what he gets, because they are only giving him/ her what they already deserve. Something they should have given to Afro- Americans a hundred years ago. He doesn’t see whites as doing him/ her any favors. He doesn’t see any progress that has been made since the Civil War. He sees no progress at all because if there had been any progress made since then, he wouldn’t need civil-rights legislation today. If the Emancipation Proclamation had freed them as it were supposed to, Afro- Americans wouldn’t have to be boycotting and fighting for their rights. If the amendments to the Constitution had solved the problem Afro- Americans wouldn’t need to protest for what they believe in. Finally if the Supreme Court’s decision on desegregation in 1954 was so creatively designed for this problem, we wouldn’t have to deal with this problem today.
If Malcolm X would describe himself in one of the above two categories he would definitely be categorized by the group that believes they have been owed their rights for years and years. He is angry that he and all his people, all over the world, are being denied their god given rights to live equally with the people around them. He clearly shows his frustration and is telling the public that he is willing to fight for his long awaited rights. He has grown tired and impatient of waiting for his rights to be handed to him. The time has come for him to demand what he believes is rightfully his, and the only way he realized he could do that was using any means necessary, even if he were to resort to violence.
These two very different kinds of Afro- Americans living in the country were described by Malcolm X. By making this speech Malcolm X was able to express his feelings to the public. By doing this, he became a big factor in overcoming the inequality of Afro- Americans that had existed for so many years.