Malcolm X #2 (The Knife Will Still Leave a Scar)

One of the quotes that I think is very significant is “Four hundred years the white man has had his foot-long knife in the black man’s back –and now the white man starts to wiggle the knife out, maybe six inches! The black man’s supposed to be grateful? Why, if the white man jerked the knife out, it’s still going to leave a scar” (Haley 275). I think that this quote is very significant because it states that what happens in the past can be forgiven, but never forgotten. The black man has always been oppressed by the white man. It all started when the first ship of African Americans came to this country and the white man decided to make them their slaves. Even after the emancipation of slavery, black men where still being discriminated by white men. What Malcolm X means by this statement is that no matter how good the black man may be treated by a white man, the pain of once being oppressed will never go away.

There is a very interesting article about a survivor’s reaction to the genocide of Rwanda (http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/apr/06/headline-here/) that talks about the grievances the Tutsis have against the Hutus. The survivor states that he has forgiven the Hutus, but the genocide was a point in history that will be very difficult for him to forget. He went through a lot of hardships to survive the violent genocide and many of his family members and friends died. 

I know of a lot of things that have happened to me because of someone else's fault that I forgave, but are still within my memories up to this moment. I will never forget the moments that my brother made me go through a lot of pain like the moment he hit me in the mouth with a baseball bat or when he pushed me into a steaming pot while we were arguing in the kitchen. It took me a very long time for me to forgive my brother for what he had done, but I ended up forgiving him. But like I said, these are things that I will always remember.

Malcolm X #1 (Malcolm Changes)

It is amazing how drastic the change that Malcolm goes through is. During the early chapters, Malcolm is a person who steals and consumes a large amount of drugs. At first when he is in prison, his handwriting isn’t all that great and the people who he wrote to barely understood what he wrote. As he spent some time in prison, he decided to do something beneficial. He starts going to the library and reading books. He becomes so fascinated by the books he reads that he keeps on reading, even while everyone in the prison is sleeping. He starts reading the dictionary and copying down every single word along with the definition on a little tablet. After he is out of prison, he no longer consumes drugs and doesn’t do anything illegal. He no longer wears zoot suits or gets his hair conked anymore.

I admire Malcolm X for making the decision to get self-educated while in prison. There are many people out there today who break away from mistakes they made in the past and try to make a better future for themselves. I remember that when I was just in the second grade, I didn’t care much about school. All I liked to do was play on the computer and draw pictures. I didn’t like to do homework at all and I was very lazy. Midway through third grade, I was still the same way I had been in second grade. I stopped being this way towards the end of third grade. My mom was the one who motivated me to start reading books. She used to read me short stories, which I loved. I decided to challenge myself and started reading many chapter books from the Junie B. Jones and the Baby-sitter’s Club book series. I became extremely fascinated by these books. After reading all these books, I started to like school and do my homework. I even read during the summer. I changed from being a lazy, irresponsible student who doesn’t do homework to a hard working, responsible student who does all her homework, just like Malcolm X changed from being a druggy/thief to a respectful human being.

There is an article (http://www.gimundo.com/Articles/Daily/1231/11/12/2008/Former_Thief_Sends_Money_and_Apology_Note) that talks about a man who stole four hundred cigarettes from an Indian food shop owner in Bristol, England. The thief, like Malcolm X, used to consume a large amount of drugs. The thief sent a letter and some money to the Indian food shop owner as a way to apologize for what he had done. Like Malcolm X, the thief turned his life around in order to have a better future.

The Ethnic Notation Video

The video we watched in class a few days ago about ethnicity was really intense. I think it put a lot out there about what African Americans really were in the minds of white people. I did not know that Sambo, Zip coon, mammy, the brute, the pickaninny, and urban coon were stereotypes used to describe African Americans. I do not think it is fair that African Americans were discriminated in this way. I also do not think it is fair how African Americans were discriminated in the various cartoons shown in the movie. One of the ways African Americans were made fun of in these cartoons was by drawing big lips on these African American characters. African Americans were portrayed as monkeys and horrible beasts. Even little kids and babies were depicted with wild animals to show that they were animals themselves. This just shows how far white people have gone to discriminate African Americans. These stereotypes are similar to some of the stereotypes that still exist today. For example, I have seen recent pictures where African Americans are still portrayed with big lips. I have even seen from personal experience, people making fun of how African Americans look.I think discrimination and stereotypes still exist today, not only African American stereotypes, but also stereotypes of many different cultures and religion. 

As a Hispanic, I have never been personally criticized or made fun of because of my race. But I have seen many cases in the news were Hispanics are been abused by racists. There was one specific case of a hate crime in which three African Americans killed a Hispanic man by beating him with an aluminum bat. (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/12/13/2008-12-13_a_rally_cry_for_latino_immigrant_killed_.html
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Malcolm X (Interesting Quotes)

So far, I think that Malcolm X is a great book. There are many quotes that really grabbed my attention. One of the quotes states "They all reported that Mr. Ostrowski had encouraged what they wanted. Yet nearly none of them had earned marks equal to mine" (Haley 38). I think this is a very deep quote because it shows how African Americans were considered to be inferior no matter how good they were at something. Even though Malcolm gets better grades than most of his classmates, Mr. Ostrowski does not believe that Malcolm could pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer because he is black. Mr. Ostrowski did encourage the white students, who got worse grades than Malcolm, to pursue their dreams of becoming teachers and doctors. I do not think it is fair that African Americans were "predestined" at that time. It is almost like their destiny is to have jobs not as superior as those of whites. 

Another quote states "I admire any Negro man who has never had himself conked, or who had the sense to get rid of it -as I finally did" (Haley 57). Malcolm went through a lot of pain when he got his first conk. His flesh was literally burning and he was suffering just so that his hair could be as good as a white man's hair. Looking back to when he got his first conk, Malcolm X felt ashamed of himself for being so ignorant at that time: for being like many of those African Americans who were brainwashed to think that they were inferior to white people and that they had to do anything to look like a white person. 

Holden & Phoebe

It is clear that Holden and Phoebe have a very close relationship. She seems to be the only person that Holden doesn't consider to be phony. Phoebe is the only person that understands Holden. Even though Phoebe is six years younger than Holden, she seems to be more mature than him. I think that Phoebe is the only one that can free Holden of the world that he is living in. She is the only one that can make him realize that the bitterness that he has against other people is really a bitterness that he has towards himself. 

Holden & Sally

Holden and Sally's relationship is somewhat strange; mainly because of Holden's mood swings with Sally. I think that Holden doesn't even know what his true feelings for Sally are. In chapter 17, he stated that he didn't even like her, but he felt like he was in love with her and wanted to marry her when he saw her. When he said he loved her, he admit it was a lie. Then he said that he meant it when he said that he loved her. After Sally was finished talking with George, Holden said that he sort of hated her. He also asked her to run away with him, but she said no. I think that Holden is either trying to hide his true feelings for Sally, he doesn't even know what he feels, or he is just in desperate need of love. In that same chapter, Holden is talking to Sally about how he hates New York. Sally tells him to stop shouting , but he says that he isn't even shouting. This shows how he doesn't even realize his own agitation. 

The Catcher in the Rye

I have read half way through The Catcher in the Rye. One connection that I can make with this book is the fact that Holden had gone to many different schools. I had to leave all of my friends from school back where I used to live and go to a new school where I didn't know anybody.

I like the book so far because it is easy to read and it is starting to get interesting. Holden's personality is weird in a way. He considers everyone to be phony. This is probably because he doesn't want to have a close relationship with anybody else after the death of his brother. He doesn't want to suffer the loss of anyone close to him ever again. He doesn't like most of the people in this book, like Ackley, and yet does things with him that he would do with a friend, like inviting him to the movies.