The United States of America is arguably one of the most hypocritical nations in the world, to date. Throughout its history, the USA has gone against the values that it was supposedly founded upon: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We saw this hypocrisy in the 1800s as Frederick Douglass delivered his speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, a social criticism as to how Americans would celebrate independence and freedom from oppression when four million Americans labored on plantations with their hands and feet in chains. We saw it as we invaded the Middle East to combat terrorism and the Islamic State, regardless of the terror that was to be inflicted upon the innocent people actually living in the Middle East. We saw it
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A quintessential example of this phenomena was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. While the Civil Rights Movement greatly contributed to the rights of minority communities in the USA, America is still plagued by inequality along racial lines. Coinciding with the Civil Rights Movement was the career of political activist, Malcolm X. While Malcolm X was crucial to the advancement of Black America during the Civil Rights Movement, today he serves as nothing more than another example of America’s hypocritical nature. Due to the hypocrisy that permeates our nation, the ideologies that Malcolm X outlined have been abandoned by new-age activism. In today’s society, Malcolm’s ideologies are not accepted, not implemented, and ultimately, …show more content…
Enrollment in the Nation of Islam jumped from 6,000 in 1955 to 75,000 by the early 1960s. While the pro-black beliefs of the NOI served as incentive to some, the primary reason for the increased enrollment was Malcolm X’s ability to connect to black America. As a reformed hustler who had come up from the ghetto, Malcolm embodied their struggle. At that time, “we blacks hated the African features: the African nose, the shape of our lips, the color of our skin, the texture of our hair. We could only end up hating ourselves. Our skin became a trap, a prison; we felt inferior, inadequate, helpless.” By embracing the features that society had deemed ugly, Malcolm easily garnered support for black nationalism. At this time phrases such as ‘black power’ and ‘black is beautiful’ became popular. In addition to empowering African-Americans, Malcolm also justified their anger. In an interview with Claude Lewis for the New York Post in December 1964, Malcolm
A quintessential example of this phenomena was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. While the Civil Rights Movement greatly contributed to the rights of minority communities in the USA, America is still plagued by inequality along racial lines. Coinciding with the Civil Rights Movement was the career of political activist, Malcolm X. While Malcolm X was crucial to the advancement of Black America during the Civil Rights Movement, today he serves as nothing more than another example of America’s hypocritical nature. Due to the hypocrisy that permeates our nation, the ideologies that Malcolm X outlined have been abandoned by new-age activism. In today’s society, Malcolm’s ideologies are not accepted, not implemented, and ultimately, …show more content…
Enrollment in the Nation of Islam jumped from 6,000 in 1955 to 75,000 by the early 1960s. While the pro-black beliefs of the NOI served as incentive to some, the primary reason for the increased enrollment was Malcolm X’s ability to connect to black America. As a reformed hustler who had come up from the ghetto, Malcolm embodied their struggle. At that time, “we blacks hated the African features: the African nose, the shape of our lips, the color of our skin, the texture of our hair. We could only end up hating ourselves. Our skin became a trap, a prison; we felt inferior, inadequate, helpless.” By embracing the features that society had deemed ugly, Malcolm easily garnered support for black nationalism. At this time phrases such as ‘black power’ and ‘black is beautiful’ became popular. In addition to empowering African-Americans, Malcolm also justified their anger. In an interview with Claude Lewis for the New York Post in December 1964, Malcolm