Assassinations
Of African-American Activists
United
States of America is a country which „unity” never was and still is not an easy
and straightforward matter. Even our first associations with this country are
mainly about varied society in different states. This is obviously connected
with different origins of Americans which are most visible because of the skin
colors. The constant fight between white and black people stems from an early
stage of development of the USA and propagation of slavery.
However,
the fight for blacks’ rights started to be really violent in the 50s and 60s so
in the times of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The African-American civil
rights movement became a serious threat
for Parliament. Race problem is so significant that whenever it is mentioned on
the greatest scale - someone gets killed. It is not only in case of ordinary
people but also politicians from the highest position. What is more, it is not
limited to this period, when we notice that also Abraham Lincoln was shot
because of his actions on abolishing the slavery. People always are silenced by
an assassin and get shot. It is both really tragic and ironic how the issue is
dealt with since shooting away anyone who causes problems seems to be in the
range of possibilities. However the case of Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X as he
preferred to be called, was of the highest significance because his death was
more or less caused by his comment on John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the US
president’s assassination.
Spike
Lee’s film titled “Malcolm X” is
a really detailed biography of Malcolm. It contains all of the most important
events, and we see all different changes of values he undergoes. It ends with a
really dramatic scene of his death. The one held responsible for the attack in
the ballroom was Thomas Hagan, whose real name was Talmadge Hayer. He hit
Malcolm 7 times using a shotgun. The film was based on Malcolm’s autobiography
so it is based on the most believable source. For obvious reasons he had not
wrote about his death but predicted it since several times before someone
threatened him and once, shortly before his death at a rally of his followers
in a ballroom in Washington Heights, someone attacked his home. He felt that
people who wanted him dead were from Black Muslims Organization, which he left
shortly before. They fell apart mainly because of his comment on the
assassination of President Kennedy. He called it a case of ``chickens coming
home to roost'' and an outgrowth of violence that whites had used against
Negroes. He was suspended by Elijah Muhammad and then started his own movement
but still remained loyal to his beliefs which were more than critical towards
white people. It is really difficult to
judge him based on Spike Lee’s adaptation. His character is really complex.
However it is quite hard not to notice the irony between him and JFK. Malcolm X
died from black man hands. In the end viewers get the impression that somehow
his hatred and arrogance was punished.
On
the other hand, Martin Luther King’s beliefs and actions were totally
different. His life was portrayed in a quite recent movie “Selma” directed by Avay DuVernay. In this movie we get a totally different type of
activist – the passive resistance type. The impression we get of King is that
he was the one who really inspired all African-Americans to unite and march
from Selma to protest against oppression. When it comes to his death it is not
presented, but only mentioned about at the end. King was shot in a more private
occasion, while he was in a Lorraine Motel in Memphis with his associates. The
assassin used a sniper rifle and because of that he was hard to capture at
first. Really interesting thing is that the police arrived at the crime scene without
being called for. He murderer was caught
later on – it was James Earl Ray. Just like Malcom, King received numerous
threats against his life. His situation was, however, quite different since his
attitude was far less aggressive, he even was able to recruit white people who
openly helped his cause. Unfortunately, they were killed too, like for example
Viola Luizzo who was eliminated by Ku
Klux Klan. The number of assassination attempts followed her case.
Two
cases have something in common, but also differs significantly. Both Malcolm X
and Martin Luther King were fighting for their rights, and they both were
considered to be a huge danger for the authorities. They were observed and
wiretapped almost all the time. Another, not so significant, similarity would
be the fact that they died at the exact same age – 39. However, their deaths
had somehow different impact on the society. When Malcolm X shared his fears of
being killed, he was laughed off as a publicity act. When he died people were
thinking mainly about how aggressive he was. On the other hand, King became a
national hero, and it is his statue that Barack Obama have on his desk. Such thing was unimaginable back in King’s times.
Many
people died for the cause of freedom. From perspective of today it seems that
such sacrifice was almost necessary because it really got the movements
publicity it deserved in the first place. We are not able to guess how would
the things go down if both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were alive. The one
thing we can obviously say – people who were responsible for the deaths of
these iconic figures had lost their fight because of the killings.
1. Write an essay:
Compare situation of black people of America then and now. Try to explain the roots of the problem and present examples of racial discrimination in the US. Try to answer the question if the situation have changed, and if yes - explain how.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) "American
civil rights movement". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica
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Encyclopædia
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2) Malcolm
X. Dir. Spike Lee. Prod. Spike Lee. By Spike Lee and Arnold Perl. Perf. Denzel
Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, and Al Freeman. Warner Bros., 1992.
DVD.
3) Peter
Kihss. "How Race Is Lived In America." Editorial. The New York Times
22 Feb. 1965: n. pag. Malcom X Shot to Death at Rally Here. Web.
4)
‘’Death of a desperado’’ Newsweek, March 8, 1965, Copyright @ 1965,
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5) Selma.
Dir. Avay DuVernay. Screenplay by Paul Webb. Perf. David Oyelowo and Tom
Wilkinson. Celador Films, 2014. DVD.
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Elizabeth. "The Photograph That Captured the Horror of MLK’s
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<http://time.com/3749091/mlk-assassination-photograph/>.
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Earl. "Martin Luther King Is Slain in Memphis; A White Is Suspected;
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Karen. "Why Malcolm X Is Getting Written Out of History." Newsweek.
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