Malcolm X

A part of The Autobiography of Malcolm X that I would like to comment on, and I know a lot of people have very strong feelings towards this particular part of the novel, is the part where Malcolm describes the process in which white people were created. This theory, told to Malcolm’s sister by Elijah Muhammad, states that a scientist named Mr. Yacub who was dissatisfied with his life, created the “white race of devils” to get revenge on the black race because he was bitter towards Allah. He stated that black people have two genes, one brown and one black. The brown gene is recessive and thus is overpowered by the black gene. Yacub decided that to make this white race, people of brown skin could marry either brown or black skinned people, but black skinned people could not marry other blacks in order for the race to gradually get lighter. Any black babies were killed, and the lighter ones were taken great care of. After 800 years, the white race was achieved. Muhammad then stated that this “devil race” turned “a peaceful heaven on earth into a hell”.

I, along with others I’m sure, was offended by this passage. I think it’s completely wrong to say that because certain white people treated blacks badly in the past, that the whole race is considered to be devils. Sure, the ones who owned slaves did devilish things and were not at all good people, but that doesn’t mean the whole race is bad. Many whites supported equal rights for blacks, and it seems as though Malcolm X didn’t even care about that. I know that the majority of black people didn’t believe this theory and would find it just as ridiculous and offensive as white people would today, but by Malcolm X supporting things like this doesn’t make him any better than the white racists. He’s trying to fight racism with more racism and that is not the answer. That will only make problems worse and cause more separation. When there’s an issue such as this, the best thing to do is what MLK Jr. did-fight for your rights and protest. More hate doesn’t solve anything, it causes more separation. It’s a good thing MLK’s tactics are what made the country change and not Malcolm X’s.