he law, these rights were inherently unequal to those of whites. Racial tension was thick during the 1950’s and 60’s and the country had many black leaders fighting for equal rights. Malcolm X was one of these leaders and he tells his story in his autobiography. Many considered him to have an extremely radical stance in the black rights arena, even amongst other blacks. He was a member of the Black Muslims and, at one time, believed that blacks were the original people of the world and that when the white ‘devil’ came along “through telling lies that set the black man fighting among each other, this devil race had turned what had been a peaceful heaven on earth into a hell torn by quarreling and fighting (Malcolm X 169).” Malcolm X believes that all white people are evil, thus making the arguments of Lincoln and Stowe completely unimportant as they were the enemy in the first place. He himself is a very racist person in that he discriminates against white people just as badly as whites discriminate against him. “The teachings of Mr. Muhammad [the Black Muslim leader] stressed how history had been ‘whitened’ –when white men had written history books, the black man simply had been left out (Malcolm X 177).” This true statement shows a perspective on why Malcolm X may have had his racist qualities. He actually had to fight for his rights and stand up against the prejudice inflicted upon him. His racism against whites had a foundation in actual events whereas white discrimination did not.Malcolm X preached complete separation from white people. “How is the black man going to get ‘civil rights’ before first he wins his human rights? (Malcolm X 183)” The Black Muslims taught that integration was a worthless cause as no white person nor black person really wanted it. They believed that integrating into a corrupt society was misguided, “b...
