Internalized racism I do believe that it exist but by virtue of self pity, assimilation or ignorance. I respect Malcolm X for some of his ideology but not all. In my opinion he to some extent provided black people with a crouch at it relates to their capabilities, future and responsibilities. One of the shift in consciousness that Malcolm wanted to create was to label blacks tell them what they are worth capable of or how far they can go in other words he set barriers. For example he thought black people cannot be good lawyers this was pretty much the same concept Booker T Washington had. He believed that blacks should focus in vocational areas; personally I resent both notions that is very much what contributed to internalized racism. We tend to always point the finger at others. One would say that it is the natural order of things, that white America dominates and it is pretty challenging to proceed against the rules and structure. The powers and change you are fighting would be met with much resistance. The ruling class or “race “would rebel in order to maintain dominance. Malcolm perceived this as African Americans absorbing the ideology of white supremacy. There are ways for blacks to get pass the teachings of Malcolm X which limits their potential and advancement in society. Take for example W.E.B Du Bois, he was a progressive reformer, radical, activist, author and civil right leader. He was the first black to receive a PHD from Harvard University in sociology. He is known for his talented speeches which educate blacks. He believed that educating blacks would filter down to other generation he also believe that blacks should be professionals such as: doctors, lawyers which is in direct opposition to Malcolm X’s perspectives.
I do believe that inequality exist, however, there are a lot of opportunities and tools available to fight racism, discrimination, and oppression. We need to take control take responsibility and have a “double consciences” which is seeing things from both black and white races.
This is a really interesting post - although Booker T. Washington is usually labelled as a 'conservative' and Malcolm X as a 'radical' (whatever those label mean) there are some connections between them - both were to some extent more interested in self-help than changing policies and laws like WEB DuBois, and groups like the NAACP and SNCC were.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about what you're saying about his not thinking Blacks could (or should?) be lawyers - is there a passage from his writing you're drawing on there?