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Systemic Oppression In Alex Haley's The Autobiography Of Malcolm X

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Eng. IV “Institutional Oppression is the systematic mistreatment of people within a social identity group, supported and enforced by the society and its institutions, solely based on the person's membership in the social identity group.” In The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley, the ideas of systemic oppression and ‘social’ or racial identity are frequently expressed through the conflicts and events in Malcolm's life. Every facet of Malcolm's life had been influenced or affected greatly by the socially instituted oppression placed on him by his racial identity. It started when he was young, at the very beginning of his story. From an early age, his father was harassed by the Ku Klux Klan, and then his mother was driven mad by social workers. Upon which his family was very …show more content…

Though even that wasn't enough to get rid of the blight itself. Systemic oppression is an issue still relevant today. In all things from the workforce to day to day living. Things were so bad in Malcolm's time, that in 1964, the US Equal Employment Commission was founded as aid for minorities and women in the workforce and private industry. Beyond that many other measures have been put into places by the US government and private organizations to combat systemic oppression. But the ideal is also symbolic, much of the fight Malcolm Little, his father, Marcus Garvey and Dr. King fought was largely symbolic rather than material. Some of those symbols still remain today. For example in South Carolina, at the capital. Lately on the news there has been the fiasco that took place when people took offense to the flying of the Confederate flag. Whether someone believe they flew the flag based on their appreciation of their history and culture, or flew it in order to continue to perpetuate old ideals of systemic oppression no one can

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Thesis: In “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, Malcolm X in his telling of his life to Alex Haley uncovers the theme of positive and negative environments unearthed by the interaction of African Americans and White Americans in his life and what those kinds of environments inherently produce. Annotated Bibliography Nelson, Emmanuel S. Ethnic American Literature: an Encyclopedia for Students. Greenwood, An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2015.This encyclopedia points out that the negative interaction he held with the white man as a young hustler was countered by these same experiences pushing Malcolm X to reclaim his “African identity”. This shows, as described by the cited work, what a man pushed by his negative interactions with the oppressive white men is willing to do to find his identity (i.e. through hustling).

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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.

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