Quest for Manhood Malcolm X - 1086 Words

Quest for Manhood Manhood is when a boy takes the leap from being a child to a true man. People say that leap happens at different times for every boy. People can tell it happens because they stop acting foolishly and deal with matters by themselves. The four stories The Autobiography of Malcolm X, â€Å"The Ethics of Living Jim Crow†, â€Å"The Man Who Killed a Shadow†, and â€Å"Almos’ a Man† all deal with African American boys and them becoming true men. The literature of Richard Wright and Malcolm X illustrate how African American males encountered much difficulty in asserting their manhood while living within the racist society of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Racism denied African American males the opportunity to gain economic power. In†¦show more content†¦The white workers beat an old black lady for not paying her bill. He could not defend the old lady because he knew the whites would hurt him if I tried to help her. Later on in the story, a security guard slaps a fellow black female employee on the butt. The African American man feels embarrassed for letting his friend get slapped on the butt. The employee who got slapped says, â€Å"‘Don’t worry, you couldn’t help it†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (246). This quote shows that blacks had no chance to defend others because if they did, the whites would just beat them even more. The girl knows they can’t do anything about it and tells him not to worry. From white security guards to racist groups such as the KKK, whites could do basically whatever they want to do to blacks at this time. At the very beginning of Malcolm X, the KKK is at Malcolm’s house . They were surrounding the house, â€Å"brandishing their shotguns and rifles† (1). The KKK is around the house with weapons wanting Malcolm’s father to leave town. He had no way to defend himself because they had all weapons. Many people and organizations in town, and even the police are corrupt and don’t like the blacks. Part of being a man is defending others and the whites would not let them do this at this time. The four stories show how black males had different obstacles to overcome in gaining their manhood while living in the racist society during the mid 1900’s. The boys in allShow MoreRelatedEssay on Unity Amid Diversity1691 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluential Americans that helped make equality possible and also made everyone proud to be American. From the famous court case of Brown vs. Board of Education and the refusal of Rosa Parks to the ideas and actions of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Anne Moody, equality emerged in the United States and a positive, patriotic and respectful outlook was placed on what it is to be an â€Å"American.† The Civil Rights Movement was like a time bomb waiting to go off. African-Americans throughoutRead MoreBlack Panther Party3043 Words   |  13 Pagessignificant fear of the Partys aggressive actions would not only drive the party apart but also create false information regarding the Panthers programs and accomplishments. In recent years, historians have devoted much attention of the early 1960s, to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and have ignored the Black Panthers. The Panthers and Huey P. Newtons leadership of the Party are as significant to the Black freedom struggle as more widely known leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. A typical American historyRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesGreat Britain and in emerging and aspiring high-tech states of very different sorts in Israel, India, and China. Equally impressiv e in terms of the global range of questions they include, Hecht and Edwards look at the impact of the nuclear nations’ quest for viable, stable sources of uranium and sites for testing nuclear devices in locales as disparate as French Polynesia, Niger, Gabon, and the Belgian Congo. Having had the good fortune to escape the global nuclear holocaust that was once widely