Exploratory Draft

Proposal: I am interested in writing about the reasoning behind Malcolm's quote on page 40 where he states,"...while my primary concern would be to grab a few crumbs from the groaning board of the two-faced whites with whom they're begging to 'integrate,'" because I want to discover why he calls whites two-faced despite undergoing his transformation in Mecca. This is important because it may hold the answer to the question:"Did Malcolm really change?" One way to consider this is that possibly he wasn't referring to all whites but only the ones in power.

This is a possibility to consider because within the quote he states,” the groaning board of the two-faced whites,” instead of blatantly saying whites are two faced. Then again within the statement are the words “... the two-faced whites” which would refer to the race as a whole. Lets first rewind a bit. Malcolm receives his new outlook on whites when he receives kindness from a man of Islam named Dr.Azzam whom Malcolm says, “ ...would’ve been considered ‘white’ in America…” So in the context of Malcolm’s quote about whites being two-faced would Dr.Azzam be considered white, Muslim or both to Malcolm? I would assume a fellow Muslim considering how Malcolm is so humbled by the man’s kindness towards him. But yet Malcolm reappraises the white man from Dr.Azzam’s kind actions, so in that case he’s considered a white man… a “two-faced white man?” We wouldn’t really know because Malcolm only states that he would’ve been considered white in America, but what does Malcolm consider him?

At the end of his trip Malcolm reaches a new view of racism as a disease only to be cured by no other religion but Islam. Apparently Malcolm’s new goal after Mecca is integration. Allow me to break down the entirety of the quote:  Whatever I have done since then, I have driven myself to become a success at it. “I've often thought that if Mr. Ostrowski had encouraged me to become a lawyer, I would today probably be among some city's professional black bourgeoisie, sipping cocktails and palming myself off as a community spokesman for and leader of the suffering black masses, while my primary concern would be to grab a few more crumbs from the groaning board of the two-faced whites with whom they're begging to ‘integrate.’" Wasn’t Malcolm amongst the black bourgeoisie in Boston? Those who did their best to copy white culture that he deeply hated (but yet got a conk…). Further into the future Malcolm practically became a community spokesperson for the suffering black masses and certainly had a huge influence. And now suddenly he wants integration like he experienced in Mecca. Malcolm basically became what he states he isn't in this quote. Malcolm also states within the chapter “Mecca” that present day racism is due to the past 400 years of cruelty and violence towards blacks. Then again he states that whites are two-faced. Malcolm was just as racist as white people were. He wants integration, but yet is still making racist comments. Perhaps it’s just me but this seems a bit hypocritical… almost two-faced.

So has Malcolm changed? He has done so constantly throughout his life but has he this time? If anything he’s officially Muslim but his mindset on whites seems to not have changed, and yet his view on racism has. If anything he probably gave them some “credit” but not much else. Could Malcolm have changed somewhat in the future? Possibly but not likely. But looking from Malcolm's point of view, how difficult must it be to suddenly love a race that has done so much in your life. I look at it as if one person were to have killed my father, drive my mother to the point of hysteria, and look down upon me as if I was dirt, how accepting would I be of that person if I were to learn that it’s not their fault but the horror of the past. I would consider that person the devil, one that all he does is evil. And for Malcolm to find a religion that completely corresponds with the happenings of his past where else would he have gone. Though I do not agree with or completely understand Malcolm’s thoughts and actions, I can almost, sorta see where he’s coming from. Almost.