I am writing
about how Malcolm changed so quickly after Mecca after holding on to his
beliefs with Elijah Muhammad for so long. Under Elijah Muhammad, he was basically
advertising for the ideas that the Nation of Islam held, going to speeches and
trying very hard to convince others of what he thought, and what the Nation of
Islam thought as well. He was, besides Elijah Muhammad himself, the face of the
NOI, and so when he suddenly and completely changed his views to the near
opposite, I found that to be very troubling.
Malcolm had
done so much against white people in America, because basically his whole
career was devoted to fighting the white “devil”, that I found it very odd that
he could suddenly just go back on that without even giving it too much thought-
obviously he thought about it, but he just seemed to decide after Mecca that he
should change. He seemed so intent before Mecca to keep on doing what he was
doing, and keep on going where he was going for a very long time, even after he
left the Nation of Islam, he still didn’t seem to have changed very much. This
makes his change all the more interesting, but troubling at the same time. Why
would he change because of one experience after having so many with the Nation
of Islam? What did Mecca do to him that gave him these ideas? These kind of
questions lead up to give the situation a more troubled one for me.
I think this
change is very important to look at because if we look at it deep enough, and
discover a lot about it, we can discover things about how Malcolm looked at his
life, and what Malcolm thought about change, which is, in my opinion, vital to
understanding Malcolm’s life, which was full of changes that were very
influential to how his life went on. Understanding these changes can make us
see how Malcolm’s life went on in a new and unique way that will give us a
deeper understanding to many other parts of his life, like what he believed
throughout his life and why, for example, or any other part of Malcolm’s
fast-paced and sometimes chaotic lifestyle.
For example, if, let’s say, looking
at the changes in Malcolm’s life leads me to say that Malcolm changed because
he had little regard for people he previously worked with when he had other
views, so he changed quickly because he didn’t care what the other people thought,
and he decided this would make him a better person (this in no way reflects
what I believe my understanding will be). From this, I could perhaps be lead to
believe that Malcolm was actually a more carefree person who decided what he
wanted to without looking at possible consequences, or that Malcolm changed
often because he often disliked people he shared ideas with. This just goes to
show that from having an understanding of Malcolm’s reasoning for change can
give a person further understanding in other parts of his life that are also
important to his life as a whole.
My claim is that religion allowed
Malcolm to change without having to look at what he was leaving behind and
instead focus on the future and the challenges he faced ahead of him. My
reasoning behind this is that because he realized that the Nation of Islam was
being basically misled, because the people were not being taught the “true”
Islam of the East, and the rest of America were not into Islam at all either,
so I think that once he saw the benefits of Islam at work in Mecca, he changed
his views to try a different method of ending racism and segregation in
America- a religious method that would be correct, and would be beneficial to
everyone of all races like in Mecca.
The best example of this is in
Malcolm’s letter to himself at the end of the chapter Mecca. In the letter, he
talks about the only way to get America away from its racist self is to basically
be shown the spiritual path away. He talks about what Islam in Mecca did to his
views- how he was changed. The main part that is still ambiguous is why he
would do it so quickly- but it almost seems like Malcolm was surprised himself
in the speed in which his views change. He says in the letter that it might be
shocking to hear his new views coming from himself, but that he was able to
change because of his flexibility and, in a way, realist attitude. But this, of
course, is not the whole story, because, in a way, he is not always true to the
point with what he says. Later on in the letter, he claims that blacks should
never be blamed if they themselves are racists. So another question that comes
to mind for me is: What made Malcolm keep some views and change certain others?
But for now, I can see from his letter that he looked to religion at least in
some ways to help fight his problems. Obviously, after discovering Mecca and “true”
Islam, religion became extremely important to him, so this is also another
reason I think religion could help him change his views despite his past.
Overall Malcolm’s changes were
troubling to me due to the speed in which they occurred and based on his past
experiences. His time with the Nation of Islam would, after these changes, seem
like a waste of time in a way if so suddenly he decides to completely go back
on his previous views. To look into how he managed this change, I think
religion played an important role to change his ideas so that he didn’t have to
look back and instead could look towards his goals that he found important with
“true” Islam.
