The Final Blog: A Comparison between Washington and Malcom X
Malcom X, and Booker T. Washington, 2 influential black men of their time, have led different lives from one another, yet have a few similar aspects to them that I wish to discuss in this final blog
. As I'm sure you remember, Washington was born as a slave, but as an adolescent (somewhere around 6~9 years old) he and his family were emancipated. Following some basic education, and rather grueling labor, he dons a surname: Washington. As he grew older, eventually he ventures by himself to seek higher education, encountering many struggles along the way. With little clothes, food, and money, he makes it to the school, and essentially becomes a custodian in order to be there as a student as well.
Malcom X, born Malcom Little, spent his adolescent years hopping from foster home to foster home (mother in hospital, father died). He was imprisoned, as he had been a street hustler in his youth, yet soon joined the Nation of Islam, changing his outlook on life, and changing surname from Little to X, a detail I'll unpack later. For quite a while he embraced the Nation, until splitting from it and going on the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), beginning to practice Sunni Islam. This is when he earned the name el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. He advocated for racial separation, black supremacy, and self-defense against violence, but with tensions rising after he left the Nation, he was assassinated by 3 members.
So let me unpack the name changes. While I don't think there is anything for Malcom X in the texts we read about relating to his name change, I do carry some basic background information as to why he went from Little to X:
Little was something he considered a white slaveowner's name by Malcom, and he wished to discard it, replacing it with an X in order to represent his lost African surname which had been forgotten over the passage of time. Slaveowners forced their slaves to whitewash their identities, starting with their surnames first to sever any connection to their African lineage.
Contrasting this to Booker T, he decided to give himself the name of Washington, yet it is never explained why in his own autobiography. Additionally, we do not know why his mother chose Taliaferro as another surname
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"When I heard the school-roll called, I noticed that all of the children had at least two names, and some of them indulged in what seemed to me the extravagance of having three...By the time the occasion came for the enrolling of my name, an idea occurred to me, which I thought would make me equal to the situation; and so, when the teacher asked me what my full name was, I calmy told him 'Booker Washington,' as if I had been called that name all my life; and by that name I have since been known...
...
my mother had given me the name of 'Booker Taliaferro' soon after I was born, but in some way that part of my name seemed to disappear and for a long while was forgotten, but as soon as I found out about it I revived it and made my full name 'Booker Taliaferro Washington'
(Washington 24)."
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Of course, Washington is a name of English origin, while Taliaferro is of what I assume to be Italian. Like Booker T says, he embraces Taliaferro as soon as he relearns it, along with Washington
as if he "had been called that name all his life"
as if he "had been called that name all his life"
I think what Washington does might speak particularly about 2 points brought up by Malcolm X in his own autobiography (could be a stretch, but at least hear me out).
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"I began first telling my black brother inmates about the glorious history of the black man-- things that they never knew. I would watch their faces when I told them about that, because the white man had completely erased the slaves' past, a Negro in America can never know his true family name, or even what tribe he was descended from."
"You let this caged-up black man start realizing, as I did, how from the first landing of the first slave ship, the millions of black men in America have been like sheep in a den of wolves
(1870-1871)."
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Malcom X is saying to us readers that Black people in America (for his point in time) were largely unaware and uneducated of their lineage, their true surnames, and the truth of Black History, as all of it had been white-washed, sugarcoated, and erased by white historians just to make other white people feel better about themselves. Washington is just one of these black people at the time who don't carry this knowledge. As you may recall from my 1st blog post, Washington seems to be making a lot of broad generalizations about slaves and their opinions about slavery, and a lot of that seems to be rooted in his personal experience and how he sees things. Not others.
- Slaves are willing to protect their masters and mistresses even if it meant their own lives
- Slaves were hesitant to leave even though they were technically free, and deeply cared about their masters
- Slaves held no form of contempt toward their masters and other white people.
With this, Washington himself comes off as somewhat oblivious to Black History, and most of slavery. He even acknowledges his lack of knowledge on his first page that "Of my ancestry, I know almost nothing," except that his mother's side of the family were a part of the middle passage. Though, he does point out on 11: "... the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery," so it's not like he downplays its severity.
Additionally I've mentioned this part before back in Blog 1, and I'll mention it again. In Washington's autobiography, the most damning evidence is again how he says "pitied." Yes, I'm still not quite over it.
In using "pity" he implies he is someone separate from the horrors of slavery. A mere spectator of it. He acknowledges the pain and suffering of slavery, but it's as if he has convinced himself he took no part in it.
He has been so shielded, that he is under the impression that his situation wasn't as bad.
...It still is bad.
And the information of black history has been so bleached and filtered that the only other information he's been receiving (before his pursuit in higher education of course) were just whispers through the grape-vine on his plantation. I'd again like to emphasize, his unawareness of history at this time is far from his fault, of course, which brings up the potential discussion about how Washington would have felt about previous aspects of his life, and other pre-existing beliefs had he been even more historically conscious.
Great blog post Willie! I like your approach with analyzing their names and what that could signify about them. I definitely think Malcolm X's name change from Little to X shows his depth of knowledge about the history of himself. You also show Booker T. Washington's lack of knowledge about his ancestry well, and readers can see how his lack of motivation ot know more about his lineage might play into some of his political and social views. I think there is a very clear distinction between the two on their views on Black people in American and slavery. While Malcolm X views white people as the devil, as you say in the blog, Booker T. Washington "pities" black americans and is a believer in assimilation more than most.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder what Washington would have thought about his previous beliefs if he was more historically conscious. I'm glad you brought up the name changes because they truly signify how both characters used their education to fuel differing beliefs. Booker T giving himself the name of Washington is an early indicator of his willingness to integrate to white society to improve his economic status, which at the time he believed was the only path to success. It is interesting that later in African American history, Malcom is empowered to change his name to X to defy the control slaveowners forced on black people and reclaim his identity, an action polar opposite from integrating to white society.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote one of my blogs on this topic, and I thought it was interesting to see the way that you looked at it compared to mine. You noticed a lot of things that I didn't, and I think you provided a perhaps more complete discussion of the differences between Malcolm X and Washington. I also like the fact that you brought up how socially blind Washington seemed to be. While I don't think he intentionally disregarded the well-being of others, the way he saw the world did not take into account experiences beyond his own.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post! I didn't think about the fact that both Booker T. Washington and Malcolm X changed their last names and I agree that their choices of last names are very revealing. I think it's also interesting that Washington is the last name of George Washington. Washington is a name that is famous and prestigious in white American society. By picking that name, Booker T. Washington proves that he can also have similar prestige and greatness to George Washington, and that that name and the honor that comes with it can be given to a black man. While on the other hand, Malcolm X picks a last name designed to reject white narratives of history.
ReplyDeleteNice blog post Willie! I also wrote my blog post on the similarities and differences between X and Washington and you touched on some points that I did not think about/ mention. I thought that your discussion of their last names and specifically Malcolm X not wanting to use his given surname and Booker T. Washington (I had no idea that's what the T stood for) adding in his mothers surname was very interesting. I also think you did a really good job of incorporating quotes that contributed to what you were writing about to give more context to what you were discussing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Willie! I made my blog on this topic as well, and I thought your emphasis on the word "pitied" from Booker T Washington. I was quite shocked when I read Up from Slavery, and I think you did a great job of articulating why.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about Washington's lack of understanding and minimization of other Black stories. I like that you also included the perspective of Malcolm X and his journey. I think that Washington and X are very similar, although they have vastly different outlooks on life and Black freedom. They both went through processes of choosing names for themselves, both learned to read from books, and both worked their entire lives to be heard and listened to. Great post!
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