Friday, May 17#blacklivesmatter

Malcolm X: X’ed Out of the American Curriculum

The Bougie Aunt | Published 6:30 p.m. ET June 8, 2020

The past few weeks have highlighted the tense racial relations in America. It has allowed for the re-emergence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement to be at the forefront of news, not only in America, but also globally. The newfound attention has also brought about a sharp divide in beliefs surrounding the best way to promote rightful change for the living standards of Blacks in America. One of the hotly debated arguments are the riots, whether they are reversing the work of the BLM movement or furthering it. Dissidents of the riots are often quick to cite Martin Luther King Jr. as an example of peaceful civil disobedience that enacted governmental change. Like Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms who said the riots were not “honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement”. However, what Mayor Bottoms did not acknowledge was not all of the famous leaders and ideology of the civil rights movement supported peaceful protest.

Malcolm X’s ideology centered around promoting Black Nationalism and Blacks achieving equality “by any means necessary”, which heavily contrasted Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas. Malcolm X’s urgency to receive his rightful equality for himself and his people permitted for any tactic to be used that would accelerate the movement, including violence. Consequently, after Malcom X was assassinated, the Black Panther Party formed to honor Malcom X’s life. The Black Panther Party employed Marxist views through how they did not view all Blacks the same (Black capitalists were viewed as oppressing poverty-stricken Blacks), and they made their party distinct by how they incorporated anti-racist whites into the party. 

Malcom X’s and the Black Panther Party’s impact was not able to reach the extent Martin Luther King Jr.’s did. Not because Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideology was better, but because Malcom X and the Black Panther Party have been x’ed out of the American curriculum. It is no surprise that many American schools teach a Eurocentric curriculum either through Eurocentric textbooks or the school’s personal distaste to having uncomfortable conversations about race. However, a Eurocentric curriculum often presents a narrowed and altered sense of history. If Malcolm X is taught under American schools, it is often to juxtapose him to Martin Luther King Jr. The juxtaposition often portrays Malcom X as a violent, white-hating Muslim who disrupted the civil rights movement while Martin Luther King Jr. is deemed as a nonviolent, loving Christian. The juxtaposition does not leave the truthful reality in any of the two men’s descriptions. And, since Malcolm X is not taught in most of the American curriculums, the Black Panther Party does not even have a chance to emerge; because, there are many parallels between the two since one of the Black Panther Party’s intentions was to honor Malcom X. 

If Malcolm X were taught in most schools, and correctly, most people concerned with the recent riot outbreaks, whether they are for or against it, would recognize that the riots are a reflection of the riot outbreaks in the 1960s that were encouraged by Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party.

If we are told to learn history because we should strive to not repeat the mistakes of the past, then we should learn the entirety of it, and not a generalized portion that supports a Eurocentric agenda. Malcolm X and by-products of his legacy should NOT be x’ed out of the American curriculum.

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