malcolm x post 3- class discussion.

Today in class we had a very deep and intense conversation. It all started from what being privileged meant to you. Then we read "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" written by Peggy McIntosh.  After reading all of the privileges that McIntosh had mentioned, I felt horrible. I could not believe I have been blinded to see all of these privileges and yet taken them for granted. But, it opened up a huge discussion to exactly why I have not worried or cared about all these things prior.  Reason I felt this way was because I am a white person, and I do have all these luxuries, so I don't worry about it, and yet all of this relates to racism.  How other people of different ethnic backgrounds do care about this everyday because it does effect them.  During our discussion in class, some people did not know why people care so much and why everyone does not have the same privileges.  Some said that if no one cared or talked about these thing, discrimination would just go away. WRONG.  Discrimination is something that can't just go away because you stopped talking about.  Unfortunately this is how our society is.  It is very easy for a white person to say something like that because, for me I can easily say I have not been placed in many situations I have been discriminated against because I am white.  Other people can not say that.  Therefore it does bother them that they are being discriminated against because of the way they look, something no one has any control over.  That is a reason they are angry and feel the need to take it out on white people.  I along with my friends left this discussion questioning things and still continuing on in this heated argument.  We could not get over the fact that some of our classmates felt that this is something that can just end.  On the other hand, after realizing how privileged we really are, I feel like we should do something about the discrimination that exists. Why not change it so people of different ethnic backgrounds don't have to worry and they can have the same privileges as everyone else.  

malcolm x post 2- movie notes.

The other day we watched a rather intense video on several stereotypes about African Americans.  I was very shocked to learn all the different names and types like "brutes" and "sambos", which are only a few among the many to mention.  It surprised me that I have been unaware of these disrespectful stereotypes prior to watching the video.  The video depicted extremely well how the old cartoons and pictures really brainwashed people into having a common vision of an African American person, from black  people being drawn with big lips to always eating watermelon.  And yet this image was very far from the actual identity of an African American.  I think I along with a good majority of the class thought that the most bizarre type was "pickaninny".  When I was watching the cartoons and seeing the postcards of little children being portrayed as food, I was shocked and confused. I could not understand this type of stereotype at all no matter how much I tried to make sense of it. This video really opened a lot of people's eyes up to various stereotypes prevalent that we were just very unaware of.  

malcolm x post 1

Nightmare. 

From the start, things for Malcolm and his family were not very stable.  They were extremely poor and had little clothes. Things even took a turn for the worse when his father was killed. I felt this scene was so powerful and explicative.  It really allowed the reader to understand how the family was feeling, especially Malcolm's mother, and what they were going through.  I really felt for Malcolm's mother for the entirety of this chapter.  She had to work so hard to fight off the Warfare people from coming to her home and would not except any charity from anyone. Malcolm's mom felt the need to do this because she would not let her guard down to show that she needed help around white people. She was already looked down upon by the white society and didn't want to be anymore. At times I was aggravated and wanted her to just except some food from neighbors so she could feed her children, but I know that would have just thrown all her pride away. 

Eventually the welfare people got to Malcolm and his family and literally tore them apart. All the children were sent to different families who were able to care for them. Malcolm's mom was sent to a State Mental Hospital after suffering from a breakdown from everything that had happened; from having no money, no food, no dignity left, and all her children taken away. 

On a different note, Malcolm often being caught between his mother and father really stuck out at me. "Thinking about it now, I feel definitely that just as my father favored me for being lighter than the other children, my mother gave me more hell for the same reason" (Haley 8). Malcolm especially remembers feeling like his father favored him the most when he would take Malcolm to his Garvey U.N.I.A. meetings. He felt that he was special he was able to sit in on these meetings with his dad.  Whereas his mother would beat him harshly.  I felt strongly about how Malcolm was being treated from one extreme to another between his parents because all this was mainly since the way he looked.  Just because his skin was lighter than the rest of his siblings, something he had no control over, didn't change what kind of person he was inside.  Yet, Malcolm was being treated in another way mainly because of just that.