Compare And Contrast Malcom X And The Tea Party Movement

Two very different social movements, Malcom X’s black nationalism and the Tea Party movement, although separated by time share a common thread. They used a conspiracy theory to convince followers that they have lost control of every part of their life to the government. Malcom X convinced followers that black nationalism was the solution to the government that was run by white people and would not give the blacks equal liberties. The tea party movement wanted to reduce the size and span of the government so that the people did not feel controlled by government regulations. These movements successfully used conspiracy theories to convince followers they were being controlled by the government and had lost their rights.
Conspiracy theories are …show more content…
Malcom X made the government and all people who preached white nationalism the enemy to their cause, black nationalism. For example, he talked about how Billy Graham “preached white nationalism” and any church that was not preaching black nationalism was preaching white nationalism and therefore did not deserve their membership. He used derogatory language for the people in the government positions who would fight against their freedom. He said they were filibustering over the civil rights cases so they would not go to a vote. He sighted other revolutions like the Cuban, French, and American revolutions that were all bloody, and he said that this could be what was required for black nationalism to come to …show more content…
Then they capitalized on distrust tainting their respective presidents. For example, the tea party played into the distrust of the government in ’08-09 during the worst economic recession since the great depression. They used slogans like “don’t tread on me” to convince people that the government had the worst in mind for the citizens. Then these movements clearly identified the mistrusted agencies. Both of them identified the government as the enemy of the movement. For the Tea party, they related the government to the Nazis, and for Malcom X they related the government to the British over the American people before their independence. Then they instilled the distrust through using language like, mysterious, suspicious, or unexplainable. Next, the leaders challenged the plausibility of the enemy, for these movements the government, and then they told a better story. For example, the tea party movement leaders told people that they could return to a time when the government was small and it didn’t affect any part of American’s lives, spinning a perfect fantasy for the followers to dream about. Malcom X created a riled up crowd that was willing to fight to the death for Black Nationalism because they believed that they could gain control of every part of government and have equal rights.
These movements created distrust in the government, and continued to question their power, then they told a better story that people