The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Book Report/Review Example

Comparative Book Report on The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley by Alex Haley and Malcolm X and The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill Part 1. Introduction Over the last hundred years American history has seen some dramatic changes and one of the most significant of all is the shift from a situation where the population was segregated along the lines of race to one where an African American president sits in the white house. This paper reviews two books which were written different points in this time spectrum: The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley by Alex Haley and Malcolm X, and The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill. The first book captures a critical moment when a radical African American leader rose up in opposition against white domination, while the second book deals with the start of a new era as Barack Obama takes up the presidency. The purpose of the paper is to compare and contrast these very different books. First it summarizes the main points of each book in turn, and then it analyzes them in more detail, comparing and contrasting their treatment of three important themes. These themes are 1) the nature of solidarity; 2) what it is to be a leader; and 3) the concept of history . Finally there is a conclusion which discusses the findings which come out of this comparative study. Part 2. Summary of key points: Malcolm X. The first thing to note about the Autobiography of Malcolm X is that it is the product of a joint effort between Malcolm X and Alex Haley. The book was put together out of tape recordings and interviews made by African American writer Alex Haley before the sudden death of Malcolm X in 1965. The first person narrative of the main text suggests that the words come directly from Malcolm X but there is undoubtedly a strong contribution provided by Haley in the way that the material is edited and organized into a coherent whole. Only the very last epilogue section separates the voice of Haley from the voice of Malcolm X, to narrate how he was assassinated. The text is organized chronologically, starting with an account of the childhood of Malcolm Little, who grew up in a family which was involved in the Black Nationalist movement called Garveyism. The opening line begins even before the child was born, making a stark and shocking connection between the unborn child and a visit by “hooded Ku Klux Klan riders” (Haley, p. 1) which terrified his mother. It is clear from the start that politics are going to be a major focus of the autobiography since the Garveyist beliefs of Malcolm X’s father are explained in a simplified form, for example in the sentence: “He believed, as did Marcus Garvey, that freedom, independence and self-respect could never be achieved by the Negro in America, and that therefore the Negro should leave America to the white man and return to his African land of origin” (Haley, p.2). A fundamental opposition of “Negro” and “white” is taken for granted at the start of the autobiography, and the word “Negro” is used with pride as a label which consciously separates African Americans, their ideas, and their interests from the white society that is in control. The chapter headings are very short, usually consisting of one or two words, and they provide emotionally charged pointers to key moments in Malcolm X’s life. The “nightmare” of chapter one is the fact that the young Malcolm Little grew up in poverty and fear, losing many of his relatives, including his father, to violent deaths at the hands of white racists. The young Malcolm was finally removed into the care of foster parents. The “mascot” heading of chapter two refers to the way that he feels as a single African American child in the middle of a white school. He states that the racist name calling “only vaguely bothered me” (Haley, p. 31) but in a telling observation he demonstrates that he was aware of the way that other people in his school and sports community excluded him: “ … despite all the beaming and smiling, the mascot wasn’t supposed to dance with any of the white girls.” (Haley, p.31) The intelligent, and sensitive young Malcolm grows up to be a vain and selfish young man, bearing many resentments against white people, and moving into urban life where he sees for the first time people of his own race wearing fine clothes and building a prosperous life for themselves. Malcolm X starts to imitate this lifestyle, taking pleasure in his appearance and getting involved in a life of drinking, dances, drugs, women and the black underworld culture of Harlem. His money comes from gambling and prostitution as well as from drug dealing and it is no surprise that he ends up in prison. The story of Malcolm X’s gradual rise from the darkness of crime to the light of religion is the most inspiring part of the book. The teachings of Elijah Muhammad make such a big impression on him that he turns his life around and converts to Islam. The criminal turns into a scholar, and the vocabulary of radical black nationalism starts to enter into the narrative. Instead of a nightmare context of oppression without any sense, in which Malcolm is lost without a moral compass, Malcolm finds a new meaning to his life, and to the sufferings of black people in America. The teachings of Elijah Mohammad say that “this devil white race shall rule the world for six thousand years,” (Haley, p. 170) and that with the help of Allah the black races will overcome this dominion. Malcolm X’s life of preaching and teaching is described, leading to the moment when he is gunned down at a public meeting. Part 3. Summary of key points: The Breakthrough. The word “Breakthrough” suggests that the Presidency of Barack Obama marks a defining moment in American history, from the perspective of a portion of the population who have been struggling for centuries to gain the recognition and status that they deserve. The key message of the book is signalled in the first chapter as “the astonishing rise of Barak Obama” (Ifill, p. 1) The author reveals that she is a journalist with 30 years of experience, and a longstanding interest in reporting issues to do with race relations in America. The timescale for her own activities on this front runs from the early 1980s to the present day, and there are many names of famous people, and mentions of key events, interspersed throughout the book. There is one chapter about Barack Obama (Ifill, pp. 51-69) and he is the focus of attention, having reached the highest job in the country, but the bulk of the text is taken up with a study of many other black politicians and their struggle to be successful, and to retain their credibility as African Americans. Their role is described in terms of “legacy politics” otherwise described as “bloodline powergrids” (Ifill, p. 110) which betrays the author’s long familiarity with American political connections. The theory of the book is that now there are emerging African American dynasties, for example the family of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who are stepping up to the mark and taking their position alongside the familiar white faces in the history books. The challenge for this generation of politicians is no longer that of achieving parity with their white colleagues, but that of maintaining a connection with African American citizens now that they have moved away from protest and into the mainstream where they need to maintain a wide spectrum of voters. Part 4. Analysis. 4.1. Theme 1: the nature of solidarity. In the Autobiography of Malcolm X there is plenty of evidence of very harsh physical and emotional oppression of black people by white people. The narrator is careful to point out also that black people also oppress each other, but his main concern is the systematic political oppression. On his travels to visit other nations with similar race relations issues, Malcolm X says: “The American black man is the world’s most shameful case of minority oppression” (Haley, p. 182-183). Malcolm X is shown to have sought out first Elijah Muhammad and then a more mainstream version of Islam as his framework for a campaign that would draw black people together to fight, using physical resistance if necessary, in solidarity with each other against oppression. The tragic death of Malcolm X, allegedly at the hands of the very people for whom he worked so hard, came at a time when he was beginning to distance himself from Elijah Muhammad’s anti-white rhetoric. In the epilogue to the book, Haley shows Elijah Muhammad as a rather pathetic figure, shouting out accusations against the newly dead Malcolm X. The ending of the books reminds the reader that Malcolm X had moved on from that position, and was beginning to see a future where there was solidarity based on people being human to each other, regardless of race. Haley’s book shows an evolution, therefore, in Malcolm X’s understanding of solidarity, and an expansion from a term defined by racist notions, into an overarching concept that transcends any issues of race. In the Breakthrough book the black politicians who have reached high positions of influence clearly retain a feeling of solidarity with people who share their own ethnic origins but they view the old protest march culture as something nostalgic, and no longer relevant to for modern politicians, even if they are treasured by the people at large. Ifill deals with the dynamics of race and gender, illustrated in the competition between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (Ifill, pp. 70-89), and citing the misogynistic taunts that Clinton suffered when campaigning. This wider perspective adds an interesting dimension to the issue of race, since black women face a double disadvantage in terms of finding role models, and shows that American politics really have moved on since the time of Malcolm X. 4.2. Theme 2: what it is to be a leader. The kind of leadership that Malcolm X attained is that of a man who has experienced great tragedy and has overcome tremendous obstacles to reach a position of authority and respect. From a violent and impoverished childhood he moved to a lonely school life, and a misspent youth among criminals. These setbacks taught him many skills in dealing with all kinds of people. The experience of prison, far from breaking his spirit and sealing his fate as one of society’s rejects and losers, gave him a new focus. Malcolm X even attributes his love of learning to the harsh regime of prison: “I don’t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact prison enabled me to study more intensively than I would have if my life had gone differently and I had attended some college.” (Haley, p. 183) Having obtained a thorough grounding in the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X embarked upon a long period of travel, as much to educate himself about the sufferings of his people, as to drum up support for his ideas. His pilgrimage to Mecca and travels to Africa were further journeys of exploration, and an awareness of the wider world led him to question some of the narrowness of the teachings of his mentor. When the educational career of Barack Obama is compared with that of Malcolm X, there are some coincidences, and some glaring differences. Both young men were academically gifted, and both had the sharp intelligence and easy eloquence that marked them out as well suited for a career in the field of law. Malcolm X’s aspirations were crushed at school through the patronizing words of his teacher Mr Ostrowski: “But you’ve got to be realistic about being a nigger. A lawyer – that’s no realistic goal for a nigger. You need to be something you can be. (Haley, p. 38). Barack Obama, on the other hand, had a white mother and black father, both academics, and despite their divorce he received private schooling and university education that included a degree in law from Harvard. The difference between the two is partly one of timing: thanks to the achievements of the generation that Malcolm X belonged to, the likes of Barack Obama could come along and take advantage of many more opportunities that would eventually enable them to enter the world of politics with something like an even chance of success alongside white candidates. The kind of leadership that Malcolm X shows in the biography is that of a single heroic figure, much like the biblical Moses leading his people out of the wilderness. This is quite different from the leadership ideal that Ifill takes, when she cites a speech of Obama’s which referred to himself and others of his age group as “the Joshua generation” (Ifill, p. 58). Crucially, Obama rejects the heroic leader status that the martyred Malcolm X and Martin Luther King enjoy and argues for a collective effort by the up and coming young black middle class politicians. Now that the main victory has been won, the next needs a host of young leaders to infiltrate the corridors of power. Ifill describes how people such as Artur Davis, Cory Booker, and Deval Patrick have distanced themselves somewhat from the civil rights generation, in order to build support in non-black communities so that they can obtain the required number of votes in order to gain power and stay in position. Paradoxically, the new trend for black leaders is for greater reconciliation and partnership with white working class groups: an idea that would have been unthinkable for the uncompromising young Malcolm X. One of the key contributions of Ifill’s book is that she presents a number of leading black politicians, and they are all different. This takes away the impression that being a black leader is something strange, and exceptional, which only one magnificent specimen can attain. Obama is not a super-hero. Now people can observe how a range of different African American politicians approach their job, and can appreciate more about them than just their ethnic origin. Ifill quotes Cory Booker as saying: “The diversity of the black community is such that, these days, having one black leader is offensive, frankly… There’s not one white leader. There’s not one Latino leader. So we are evolving as a larger community.” (Ifill, p. 243). Ifill’s book title also raises an interesting question about the huge step that Obama made when he became president: it was indeed a breakthrough, but the question is, could it have happened earlier? Could the first black president have been a Republican? Ifill reminds us that the first black four-star general Colin Powell was, in 1995, being considered by some as a credible candidate for president. She quotes him saying “In one generation…we have moved from denying a black man service at a lunch counter, to elevating one to the highest military office in the nation and to being a serious contender for the Presidency.” (Ifill, p. 23) It is interesting to speculate what kind of breakthrough that might have been, if Powell had run for president. He chose not to run, following the judgement of his wife that it was not safe for a black man to enter that arena, according to Ifill. There is no way of knowing how successful he would have been, and what implications his leadership in that election campaign, and perhaps beyond, might have had for America. The breakthrough has come in the new millennium and so far there is every sign that it is heralding a new age in American politics with a leadership style quite different from the dynastic Bush and Clinton styles. 4.3. Theme 3: the concept of history In the closing lines of the book, Haley reveals that Malcolm X had signed the contract for the writing of the autobiography with the words “A writer is what I want, not an interpreter” (Haley, p. 463) which suggests that he had recognized all too well what the main weakness of his chosen scribe would be: a tendency to write more into the text than the Malcolm X himself ever intended. Although Haley assures the reader “I tried to be a dispassionate chronicler” (Haley, p. 463) he immediately follows this with the qualifying remark: “But he was the most electric personality I have ever met…It still feels to me as if he has just gone into some next chapter, to be written by historians” (Haley, p. 463) The truth is that Haley’s talents as a storyteller have meant that his “autobiography” contains more than a little embellishment, particularly in terms of its One of the intriguing features of the Autobiography of Malcolm X is the way that the first person narrative voice shifts from a telling of the story as it is unfolds, to a commentary on that story from a later point in time. This can be seen clearly in chapter three where the voice of the young Malcolm X says “So I went gawking round the neighborhood… this was the snooty black neighborhood …” (Haley, p. 42) These first impressions are recorded, but swiftly followed by phrases such as “What I thought I was seeing there in Roxbury were high-class, educated important Negroes…. I know now, of course, that what I was really seeing was only a big-city version of those ‘successful’ Negroes …” (Haley, p. 42) The implication of this narrative style, is that the writer is trying to make sure that the reader remembers the moral, religious side of Malcolm X, even through this spell of youthful and impulsive behavior. The past and the present are constantly mixed, as the narrator mentions what he felt then and follows this up with what he feels now: “Even though I did live on the Hill, my instincts were never- and still aren’t – to feel myself better than any other Negro.” (Haley, p. 45) The view of history which is presented in Ifill’s book is more nuanced than that of the Malcolm X autobiography, simply because she includes many more quotations from a range of different people. Her own views are drawn from a lifetime of listening to the accounts of people whose lives have been touched by difficult race relations, and of observing the latest generations of African Americans make their slow and steady way to positions of prominence. Some of the journalistic tendency to sensationalize things is evident in this book, as for example when Ifill writes that on the night Barack Obama was elected “I swear I could feel the rumbling under my feet” (Ifill, p. 14). This implies that the election of a black man has been literally earth-shattering, and has changed the face of American politics for ever. Ifill illustrates the forward looking view of history that her book espouses with an image of Deval Patrick looking outside his window and seeing “a dozen or more of these little black faces” (Ifill, p. 204) . Patrick explains that the historic step change in the aspirations of black children that is the biggest breakthrough, because Obama and his generation are only the front runners in a much much bigger phenomenon which is still to come: “When I look at the excitement in their eyes, it’s not for the history we made, it’s for the history they might make…They see a possibility they might not have seen because I’m in this job.” (Ifill, p. 204) The main difference, then, in the way that the two books deal with the concept of history is that the Malcolm X book looks back at an achievement in the past, commemorating a flawed but important heroic leader, while Ilfill’s book deals with the critical moment of change as it is happening now, and looks to where it might lead in the immediate future. Obama and his generation are depicted as well adjusted, tightly integrated colleagues, working across race and class boundaries for a new American future. Part 5. Conclusion The two books discussed above have each in their own way brought to light some of the major tensions and achievements in American society over the last hundred years. The didactic narrative approach of Haley has given us an insight into one of the most influential Americans of the century, preserving his status as a hero who was cut off before he could reach his full potential, with clearly defined views on solidarity, leadership and the course of history, all of which fit into a neat plan framed within Islamic thought. Ilfill’s book takes a piecemeal approach, sharing out the credit for America’s advances in opening access to the highest offices in the land, and looking upon race relations as an exciting vista into the future rather than a bitter-sweet nostalgia for past heroism. Each book is representative of a different period of time, and comparing their approaches allows us to see just how far race relations have shifted in America in the last fifty years. Bibliography Haley, Alex and Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley. First Ballantine Books, 1973. Ifill, Gwen. The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. New York: Random House, 2009. Read More