I appreciate the wisdom and integrity of MX. I was far to young to really know about him. I did hear whispers now and then, but it was not until I grew up and had my family did I learn about this fine man.
Arnold brought to my attention just what a remarkable man he truly was.
Too bad he was a con artist...sorry guys, but after watching a laudetory bio of him on PBS some months back what had been a mild respect for the man became contempt. He was selling snake oil, and the only difference between him and Louis Farrakhan is that Malcom figured he could sell more snake oil if he allowed white suckers in on the deal...
I'll second that. Malcolm X was a street thug later a reformed thug that became a preacher of sorts with his thug body guards in supporting cast at each public appearance. So Malcolm X goes from Chicago to Detroit to Phillie where he is killed by other thugs of the same quasi-reformed background.
Growing up in Detroit Wayne County in the 50's and 60's it was apparent that Malcolm was not the black national savior icon which revisionists and others may portend.
I remember his life and times better than most here, because I was in my 20's when he achieved his fame and I was only 30 when he was assassinated. And I sure as hell remember the segregation in ordinary American society of the 1940s and 1950s, and I compared that with the integrated United States Army in which I served in the early 1950s. I didn't have to be pushed into treating blacks as unsegregated Americans.
I stand by what I wrote. Malcolm was a great leader of the african-american nation, and I think he was assassinated because toward the time of his public murder in February 1965, he was showing signs of becoming an even greater one. Which indicated to me, and still does, that the old leadership of the organization to which he had affiliated may have felt jealous enough to kill him.
Anyway, Malcolm. You had as much right to call yourself an American as anyone else born in this land. And to define it in your own terms, like many of the rest of us do. Last time I heard, Omaha was right in the middle of the United States of America. So rest in peace.
He was hit by other members of the gang because they were worried he was going to take too much of the action...
Dean,
You and I differ on this...but find me the difference between what Malcolm said and what, say, Sharpton says...
Malcolm was talking people into separating themselves from right and truth and becoming the bondsmen of people who would tell them how to live and think...he was a con artist in the worst sense of the word and one of the most baleful things to happen in America this past 40 years has been the glorification of this second-rate huckster.
Please note: I am not asking this question to trap you, or to get self-righteous on you. It is entirely possible to reach a rational conclusion on Malcolm and still say "no" to both questions. But, I really want to know: can you say "yes" to either question?
It matters my friend. Because I think you may be overlooking and dismissing one of your fellow conservatives if you haven't.
Arnold brought to my attention just what a remarkable man he truly was.
....and ssssue the teacher. ha! ha! ha! ha!
Growing up in Detroit Wayne County in the 50's and 60's it was apparent that Malcolm was not the black national savior icon which revisionists and others may portend.
Meanwhile, the real killers somehow got away.
I stand by what I wrote. Malcolm was a great leader of the african-american nation, and I think he was assassinated because toward the time of his public murder in February 1965, he was showing signs of becoming an even greater one. Which indicated to me, and still does, that the old leadership of the organization to which he had affiliated may have felt jealous enough to kill him.
Anyway, Malcolm. You had as much right to call yourself an American as anyone else born in this land. And to define it in your own terms, like many of the rest of us do. Last time I heard, Omaha was right in the middle of the United States of America. So rest in peace.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
He was hit by other members of the gang because they were worried he was going to take too much of the action...
Dean,
You and I differ on this...but find me the difference between what Malcolm said and what, say, Sharpton says...
Malcolm was talking people into separating themselves from right and truth and becoming the bondsmen of people who would tell them how to live and think...he was a con artist in the worst sense of the word and one of the most baleful things to happen in America this past 40 years has been the glorification of this second-rate huckster.
1) Have you read The Autobiography of Malcolm X?
2) Failing that, did you see Spike Lee's movie?
Please note: I am not asking this question to trap you, or to get self-righteous on you. It is entirely possible to reach a rational conclusion on Malcolm and still say "no" to both questions. But, I really want to know: can you say "yes" to either question?
It matters my friend. Because I think you may be overlooking and dismissing one of your fellow conservatives if you haven't.