Dehumanization in The Autobiography of Malcolm X Essay Example

As told to Alex Hayley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1964, aims to educate in what manner racism in opposition to black people dehumanizes them in society. The author develops this statement by including Malcolm’s personal experiences with racism which led him to feel like something less than human, which changed his perception of racism to fight towards racial equality throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Alex Hayley aims to convey Malcolm’s message of how racism dehumanizes black people to emphasize the struggles African Americans confronted during and before the civil rights movement. The Autobiography of Malcolm X is intended for people of color who have experienced racism as well as the white privileged people who have never experienced racism to establish awareness of oppression and racial prejudice during and before the civil rights movement.

Anecdotes are used within the text to demonstrate Malcolm’s point of oppression. Although Malcolm and Elijah had both faced oppression they began to share the characteristics of black culture to infuriate black people to fight against the oppression and racism any colored person had faced. The usage of anecdotes is used by Malcolm and Elijah portraying how being a part of the black culture has dehumanized African Americans due to the racism within the black culture from white people. Malcolm uses anecdotes as a visual to describe how black men, in which have faced oppression, were taken away from their homelands in which dehumanized them to a society that belittles them. The usage of loaded language is also perceived to speak on segregation as,  “Elijah Muhammed spoke of how the black man was an original man, who had been kidnapped from his homeland and stripped of his language, culture, his family structure, his family name, until the black man in America did not even realize who he was.” (227). The loaded language is used by Elijah Muhammed to influence the audience of African Americans by using an emotional appeal towards their descendent culture and dignity.  This strategy of loaded language is being used to portray the wording Elijah Muhammed used regarding the racial prejudice African Americans have faced throughout time to allow black people to find their voice and join in the fight against racism. Malcolm uses both anecdotes and loaded language to convey his message of racial discrimination during the Civil Rights Movement.

The author moves to the importance of education within African American culture through the strategy of loaded language. Malcolm uses loaded language to speak about how the controlling mindset of a white person continues throughout history as a “controlling emotional devil that couldn’t foresee that millions of black slaves, ‘Freed’ than permitted even limited education, would one day rise up as a terrifying monster within white American Midst.” (309). Malcolm used this strategy to appeal to the African American audience’s emotion of the history of slavery and racial discrimination. Malcoms usage of andectdotes is used to convey the lack of education that is given to African Americans.  The anecdote portrays how lack of education oppresses African Americans to become illiterate in which affects their rights such as voting, and obtaining higher paid jobs which dehumanizes them from the rest of society. The anecdote is used to elaborate on the difference between a white man’s education and a black man’s education in which a “white man has so easily contained and oppressed a black man that the few educated negroes scarcely applied their education.” (308). Malcolm used both loaded language and anecdotes to speak upon the lack of education that was given to African Americans which deprived them of positive human qualities that could benefit them in any future success.

Malcolm uses the effectiveness of an anecdote to portray the vulgar stories of racial prejudice.that have occurred to him when he was younger by white people. He used this strategy to gain empathy from African Americans so they would bandwagon on the opinion that white people are evil. The anecdote that was used in this argument was shown through Malcolm’s stories of his past and elucidates on how white people dehumanised him by killing his father and taking his loved ones away from him all due to racism. Malcolm wanted to antagonize African Americans against white people with stories of how “white men burned my house down, white men murdered my father, white men separated me from my family and white people have and are trying to get me to kill me. I want you to think about all the evil white have caused and tell me you don’t hate them.” ( 212). Malcolm wanted African Americans to get riled up over the injustice in America, so he would use anecdotes when explaining how “the white man, he has filled you with fear of him ever since you were black babies. So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have - and that is fear. But I am going to preach you the truth until you are free of that fear.” (291). Malcolm used load language to touch upon the history of slavery in America, and how African Americans have always assisted white people, “and still, the Christian American white man has not got it in him to find the human decency, and enough sense of justice, to recognize us, and accept us, the black people who have done so much for him as fellow human beings.” (293).  Malcolm's experiences as an African American man in America were similar to countless other African Americans, therefore when he shared his stories many people shared his pain and frustration against the white people in America. The usage of anecdotes within these personal stories, the history of America, and the injustice that has taken place in America between white people and black people gave reasoning to why African Americans felt enraged against white people. The usage of loaded language to explain the history of racism in America caused Africans Americans to feel infuriated over the way white people have dehumanized black people ever since the start of slavery in America. Malcolm’s personal stories exhibit the dehumanization Malcolm has faced throughout his childhood due to racism giving reason to his fight during the civil rights movement for racial equality.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1964, aims to educate in what manner racism in opposition to black people dehumanizes them in society.  Through the effective use of rhetorical tools, focusing mainly on the usage of anecdotes and loaded language, malcolm was able to convey his message of racial discrimination. The strategy of anecdotes is used to display Malcolm and Elijah Muhammed connections with the oppression they have both experienced to share the characteristics of black culture. This demonstrates the issues racism has caused which has dehumanized many African Americans in fighting for their rights in society. The usage of loaded language is used to indicate the importance of education within the African American culture.This is provided to speak upon the illiterate African Americans who were not given the opportunity of proper education due to their race. The usage of anectodtes is also used to speak on the fact that the racism against black people dehumanized them to become literate in society by not obtaining higher paid jobs or higher education. As well as, excessive usage of anecdotes Malcolm uses to share his past stories with his followers to get them enraged at the injustice in America and the white people who caused them the pain. The significant use of this rhetorical tool was to demonstrate Malcolm's strategies to antagonize black people against white people to fight for their rights and their racial equality in America. This links back to the anecdote tool used in which the stories Malcolm shares are his personal experiences with racism. The author was effective with the usage of rhetorical tools throughout the novel by including Malcolm’s personal experiences with racism which led him to feel like something less than human. This changed his perception of racism to fight towards racial equality throughout the civil rights movement. Therefore led to the rhetorical tools used by Malcolm to convey the message in sharing the story of his fight for racial equality. Malcolm displayed a visual for people of color and white people to become aware of the problems that racism can cause throughout America. As well as, the intent to establish awareness of the oppression and racial prejudice before and during the civil rights movement and how it strongly affected America and African Americans.