In Up From Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Booker T. Washington and Malcolm X recount how their education and experiences shaped their identities and fueled their resistance to racial oppression. Though they lived in different historical periods, both men grew up acutely aware that Black Americans were not expected to succeed like white people. Washington observes that the white boy inherits a family history and is “conscious that, if he fails in life, he will disgrace the whole family record,” something that “is of tremendous value in helping him to resist temptations” (25). However, Washington and many other African Americans lack such anchors, having been denied knowledge of their ancestry because of slavery. Malcolm’s impecunious family fell apart when he was little: his father was murdered and his mother was institutionalized, leaving him to navigate the world alone. Systemic racism would have made it nearly impossible for him to succeed via conventional means, so young Malcolm resorted to crime to survive.
In addition, both individuals challenged that demeaning racial stereotype by educating themselves and enlightening other African Americans. Washington, born a slave, worked tirelessly to achieve literacy upon earning his freedom. He grinded Webster’s “blue-back” spelling book and attended night school after long hours of labor at the salt furnace. Washington later went on to establish Tuskegee Institute to give other Black students the same opportunity to advance through learning. Malcolm X also started with a very poor education; he openly admitted his terrible handwriting, grammar, and spelling in his early letters to Elijah Muhammad in his autobiography. Malcolm’s turning point came in prison, where he copied an entire dictionary to improve his vocabulary and read a massive range of books from a wide variety of writers. Those readings provided him a global understanding of race and oppression, which he used to promote Black nationalism and share the teachings of the Nation of Islam through letters, debates, and conversations with fellow inmates and friends.
Despite these shared commitments, their world views differed. Washington lived in the years immediately following emancipation, when Black people needed jobs and stability. In his Atlanta Exposition speech, he urged the Black audience to “cast down your bucket” and pursue progress through patience and industry (152). Malcolm X rejected that belief. The Nation of Islam taught him that “The white man is the devil” (1870). Combined with what he learned from the books he perused in prison, he came to view the entire unjust racial system as something that needed to be actively resisted.
Education empowered both individuals, but the historical moments they lived in shaped two very different visions for Black progress. For Washington, education was a tool to achieve stability and quiet change within a hostile society; he believed that demonstrating Black capability through discipline and economic strength would slowly challenge white prejudice. For Malcolm X, education was a tool for political consciousness. The works he studied in prison convinced him that racial oppression was part of a global system, leading him to advocate for cultural pride and resistance rather than accommodation. Their stories reveal how learning can inspire revolution.
In addition, both individuals challenged that demeaning racial stereotype by educating themselves and enlightening other African Americans. Washington, born a slave, worked tirelessly to achieve literacy upon earning his freedom. He grinded Webster’s “blue-back” spelling book and attended night school after long hours of labor at the salt furnace. Washington later went on to establish Tuskegee Institute to give other Black students the same opportunity to advance through learning. Malcolm X also started with a very poor education; he openly admitted his terrible handwriting, grammar, and spelling in his early letters to Elijah Muhammad in his autobiography. Malcolm’s turning point came in prison, where he copied an entire dictionary to improve his vocabulary and read a massive range of books from a wide variety of writers. Those readings provided him a global understanding of race and oppression, which he used to promote Black nationalism and share the teachings of the Nation of Islam through letters, debates, and conversations with fellow inmates and friends.
Despite these shared commitments, their world views differed. Washington lived in the years immediately following emancipation, when Black people needed jobs and stability. In his Atlanta Exposition speech, he urged the Black audience to “cast down your bucket” and pursue progress through patience and industry (152). Malcolm X rejected that belief. The Nation of Islam taught him that “The white man is the devil” (1870). Combined with what he learned from the books he perused in prison, he came to view the entire unjust racial system as something that needed to be actively resisted.
Education empowered both individuals, but the historical moments they lived in shaped two very different visions for Black progress. For Washington, education was a tool to achieve stability and quiet change within a hostile society; he believed that demonstrating Black capability through discipline and economic strength would slowly challenge white prejudice. For Malcolm X, education was a tool for political consciousness. The works he studied in prison convinced him that racial oppression was part of a global system, leading him to advocate for cultural pride and resistance rather than accommodation. Their stories reveal how learning can inspire revolution.
Your summaries are clear, and you effectively highlight the historical context that shaped each man’s strategy. Good work on that!
ReplyDeleteFor future drafts, it would strengthen your analysis to expand on what their defining beliefs actually meant in practice. For example, you mention Malcolm X thought “the white man is the devil,” but you could show how that belief influenced his actions—like specific speeches, letters, or initiatives he undertook. Like when you note Washington’s emphasis on patience and industry, you could include more examples or quotes showing how he implemented this philosophy through Tuskegee or his public work. Anchoring each belief with concrete examples and direct quotes will make your argument more persuasive and vivid. This is still a pretty thoughtful comparison, but adding more detail on how each belief shaped their strategies and daily actions would take it to the next level.
I love your post Kaylee! I also did this topic as well and one thing I found very interesting about both of these figures is that they both became civil rights activists but presented how t fight for them differently. Based on your blog post I think it's a fair deduction that the reason why the two figures ended up the way the did with their opinions was their conditions from their childhood. Washington was born a slave but when freed grew up in a society where white people and black people helped him gain education increasing his motive to advocate for civil rights and immediate peace between races. Malcolm however learned from white people that they were cruel through the death of his father, his white teacher saying he could never be a lawyer, and his eventual imprisonment.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee, I like the way you organized this post and logically structured it. Showing the cause and effects of X and Washington's education routes helped make clearer connections between why they had such different perspectives. While both men shared similar core values of overall aiming for racial uplift, you compared them nicely in a way to demonstrate how and why the way they went about this goal was so different. I think you also make a great point about Washington's education as a tool for stability, differing from X's political consciousness. Great post!
ReplyDeleteKaylee, you did an excellent job at succinctly explaining the contexts and contrasts behind Malcolm X and Booker T. Washington. You touched on the political changes that Malcolm X's education granted him, and I wished that you would've unpacked that a little bit more. Do you think that his unconventional education, ones that weren't rooted in historically white-dominated academia, affected his route in becoming a radical revolutionary?
ReplyDeleteHey Kaylee, I really liked the way you acknowledged how education and differing time periods ultimately led to the gravity of Washington's beliefs and Malcolm X's beliefs. Both came from horrible situations and had to claw at every opportunity to reach a place where they could preach what they knew. Something that you mentioned that really interested me was the different approaches both men took. You mention Washington having a 'slower, challenging' approach while Malcolm X took a more radical one. I wonder if Malcolm X's more radical view ultimately sprang through inspiration of Washington or people like him. Malcolm X looked into the past and most likely saw black people's way of subtle protest and decided that it simply wasn't enough and more drastic measures had to be taken. I wonder, do radical opinions such as these stem from the longevity and lack of progress regarding the situation, or is it truly some people's first response?
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