Malcolm X's speech, Message to the Grassroots, is one of the most powerful and inspirational speeches of all time. What makes this speech even more special is that it is an exact reflection of the time period in which it was created.  Malcom X touches on several different examples within this speech to try to achieve one goal.  Its purpose is to inspire all African Americans to unite as one and rise up among the common enemy, the white man, to achieve equal rights.  Before doing research, Malcolm X's philosophy on the Civil Rights Movement seemed unjust However, the research I did changed the understanding of the text and now X's methods appear to be fair.

The first example that changed the interpretation of the speech is when I did research on the history of slavery and the long history of white supremacy in the world.  African slavery began in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619 with the intention of helping increase the production of crops such as cotton and tobacco for profit.  During slavery Africans were taken from their home countries and transported to America where they were then forced to do strenuous labor for the remainder of their lives.  Slaves were not considered human beings and therefore had no rights. If a slave did not follow the orders of his master, he would suffer consequences such as being beaten and whipped before being executed by lynching.  Not only were slaves mistreated physically, they were also robbed of their history and their identity as they were forced to give up of their real surnames and adopt the names of their masters. 

 Due to the 13th amendment, slavery ended in 1865, but African Americans did not gain equal rights until 1964.  If Malcolm X's idea of a black revolution is unjust because he suggested the use of violence to achieve an objective, why was it okay to kidnap Africans, bring them to a foreign land, rob them of everything they know and love and then torture and kill them for not being subservient?

The next example that changed the interpretation of the speech is when I researched the violence associated with various hate crimes towards African Americans during the time of Reconstruction up through the Civil Rights Movement.  X speaks about how black people are supposed to fight alongside white people in the military to protect our country, but meanwhile, on an everyday basis, white people were using acts of violence towards black people.  Even though slavery had ended, African Americans still had been wrongfully attacked.  There was relentless hate from white supremacy groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, otherwise known as the KKK. 

 On August 20, 1955, Emmett Till, a 14 year-old boy from Chicago traveled to Mississippi to visit his family.  On his way he stopped at a convenience store to buy candy. Till allegedly acted "familiar" when speaking to the white female storekeeper, Carolyn Bryant.  When Bryant's husband Rob found out about the incident, he and his half-brother kidnapped Till and beat him with a pistol.  They then made him carry and load a 74 pound fan into their truck. They shot him at point blank range in the head, tied the fan around his neck and threw his body into the ocean.  An all-white jury acquitted Bryant of all charges. 

 A year later, on May 13, 1956, a sixteen year old black girl by the name of Annette Butler from Tylertown, Mississippi was raped by four white men.  During this time in Mississippi, rape was punishable by life in prison or death but only one of the four perpetrators got time in prison.  The other three were not punished.  The jury in this case was also all white. 

 The most common hate crime around this time period were bombings.  One of the most well-known bombings was the bombing of Reverand Fred Shuttlesworth's home by the Ku Klux Klan.  Shuttlesworth was a huge activist at the time and was also a huge threat to the Ku Klux Klan.  The Ku Klux Klan tried to murder him four different times in seven years.  These terrible acts of hate towards black people dramatically change the interpretation of the text because historically, there are many documented cases of white violence and harassment of black people in which nobody is punished or held accountable.  The black revolution that Malcolm X had devised was just a way to fight back and to protect and preserve black lives.  

Another crucial point that changed the interpretation of the speech is when I researched how long African Americans have pleaded, without using violence, for equal rights.  African Americans couldn't eat at the same restaurants as white people, couldn't use the same water fountains as white people, couldn't attend the same schools and they even were segregated on busses.  African Americans have protested nonviolently since the 1950's and didn't achieve any kind of equal rights until 1964.  African Americans couldn't attend the same schools as white people until 1954.  The case of Brown v. Board of Education determined that segregation of schools was unconstitutional.  Black schools were typically lesser quality compared to white schools.  

In 1955 an elderly black woman named Rosa Parks was arrested just for refusing to give up her seat on a bus.  She was charged for breaking the law passed by Alabama in 1900 that reserved the front rows of the bus for white passengers and forced African American passengers to sit in the seats at the back of the bus. 

 Another well-known incident that occurred in 1960 was when four black students who attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University tried to sit at a "white only" lunch counter at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina.  They were denied service and asked to leave, but continued to sit in the diner as part of a peaceful and silent protest.  

Three years later another incident occurred In Birmingham, Alabama on May 2, 1963, African American children were hosed, clubbed, attacked by dogs and later arrested by police officers for protesting nonviolently.  

After all these incidents of nonviolent protesting didn't work and very little progress was made, what were African American citizens going to do?  It was apparent that nonviolent protests were getting them nowhere.  African Americans were running out of options and for this reason, African Americans during the time agreed with Malcolm X's philosophy.  Their old form of protesting didn't work so they needed to rise up and take another form of action.

In conclusion black people have been the target of violence and oppression throughout history.  To say that black people are wrong for retaliating is absurd.  After all the research, I have come to have a more thorough understanding of why African Americans such as Malcolm X felt the way they did.  They had their backs up against the wall and it was difficult to see other options.  Malcolm X was a man who was willing to use whatever means necessary to accomplish his ultimate goal; equal rights for the black man.  While most people disagree with the use of violence, if you really try to understand and empathize with the history of the black man, you may find the approach that Malcolm X used inspiring.

