Mr. Ostrowski's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Xs’ trip to Mecca, his time in jail, and his discussion with Mr. Ostrowski best display the ideas of systemic oppression, racial identity, and integration vs. separation. Xs’ discussion with Mr. Ostrowski best represents systemic oppression. His time in jail displays to him ideas on racial identity and systemic oppression. His trip to Mecca reveals to him new ideas on racial identity along with integration vs. separation. Xs’ discussion with Mr. Ostrowski acts as an early revelation to him of the world that he lives in. X states “The more I thought afterwards about what he said, the more uneasy it made me. It just kept treading around in my mind” (pg. 38). X also states “It was then that I began to change-inside”

Because of the systemic oppression, Mr. Ostrowski suggests that X shouldn’t become a lawyer, that he’s not capable of it because he’s black. This acts as Xs’ first exposure to systemic oppression in the country. X begins to mentally antagonize white people, which acts as a form or racial identity, in that he as an African-American is up against an entire race of people. Systemic oppression also acts as fuel for integration vs. separation, in that it forces African-Americans to unite and either leave or stand-up for themselves. During Xs’ time in jail, he begins to educate himself through books, and becomes a Muslim. His Muslim ideals, as well as the teachings of Bimbi, open up ideas of racial identity to X. X begins to believe in black unity, as well as the evils of the white man. X states ““The devil white man,” down through history, out of his devilish nature, had murdered, raped, and exploited every race of man not white” (pg. 165). X also states ““The white man is the devil” is a perfect echo of that black convict’s lifelong experience” (pg. 187). This shows a racial identity brought upon by the existence of systemic

By uniting as a race of people, they form a racial identity, which helps them stand up against systemic oppression. The idea of racial identity is also added by the idea that Islam is “the black mans religion”. Xs’ trip to Mecca adds to his ideas on racial identity, as well as integration vs. separation. During Mecca, he sees several Muslims, all of different races, including Germanic. X states; “I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color” (pg. 347). This forces X to rethink his views on race and “the devil white man”. He also realizes that Islam is not simply a “black” religion, but a worldwide religion. X becomes more accepting of other people, and he begins to drop his radical views. This is seen when he states “I don’t mind shaking hands with human beings” (pg. 370). It’s further seen when X states “The white man is not inherently evil, but America’s racist society influences him to act evilly” (pg. 378). X also goes on about how it is not the white man who is evil, but the collective white man that has been evil. This shows a change in Xs’ ideals and builds upon the idea of integration vs. separation. He sees integration as possible, but still stands by the idea