An Analysis on the Similarity and Differences Between Up From Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X

An Analysis on the Similarity and Differences Between Up From Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Booker T. Washington and Malcolm X were both influential yet controversial men. They both educated themselves which allowed them to lift themselves above their communities at the time. Their legacies forever shaped the future of Civil Rights in the US, and people still debate on the ideals that these men spoke about to this day. Both wrote autobiographies that used their own life experiences to argue for how Black people should overcome barriers to equality in America. However, Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X delivered completely different messages, making their similarities and differences worth analyzing. Washington’s and Malcolm X’s novels portrayed how the opportunities and experiences these two authors had influenced their literary works. 

Up from Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X both specifically show how Booker T. Washington’s and Malcolm X’s experience on self-teaching shaped their beliefs on race in America. Booker T. Washington taught himself how to read despite the significant barriers he had to overcome. In his stories, he wrote about how he had to face poverty as a result of being a former slave, had to work in dangerous conditions, and still had the motivation to go to school (Washington 21). Despite being nearly impossible for Washington to educate himself, Washington believed he was able to do so because he used every opportunity given to him to overcome those barriers instead of fighting for ones that he did not have. Washington later used this example to argue that Blacks must first accept their second class status, and earn their way up in society through pure industry and merit to earn a valuable and more equal state in America. In page 152, he describes a scenario where a mass of people are thirsty with empty buckets and are asking the people on the ship for water. However, the people told them “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The thirsty people represent African Americans, and the advice the people on the vessel gave them represent the advice Booker T. gives to Black Americans. 

Malcolm X had more formal education, and actually excelled in school. However, certain tragic events discouraged him from continuing school. His father was “accidently” run over by a car, but Malcolm believed white supremacists killed him for being a supporter of Garvey (Puckett). His mother got sent to a mental health institution after having a nervous breakdown (Puckett). Finally, after his teacher told him that Blacks like him were not fit to become lawyers, Malcolm gave up education when he was a teenager and gave into a life of crime (Puckett). He eventually got arrested and sent to prison. In jail, Malcolm X started to build his vocabulary by reading jail books and the dictionary. Eventually, Malcolm X learned about a Black Muslim society called the Nation of Islam, a society that believed African Americans should take a more militant approach to secure Black self-determination. This resonated with Malcolm's life and past experiences and reinforced what were already Malcolm’s bitter feelings toward Whites. These two examples exemplify how self teaching was a turning point in these two men’s lives, which shaped the way they thought and the way they wrote in their autobiographies.

The differences between Booker T. Washington’s and Malcolm X’s autobiographies reflect the influence their sociopolitical environment had on these two individuals. Booker T. Washington was born a slave and spent seven years of childhood under the control of his masters. He experienced hardships such as having to take corn and water from the mill to the plantation and being flogged for not returning to the plantation on time (“Up from Slavery” 4). But despite having traumatic experiences, Washington mitigated his traumatic experiences when writing his book, and even expresses his sympathy for slaveowners (Washington 9). Furthermore, Washington does not blame the Southern Whites for advocating for the wrongs inflicted upon Blacks, instead blaming the “General Government” for letting it continue “for years” (Washington 10). When looking at Booker T. Washington’s neutral stance, one can clearly see that he was only trying to appease the Whites. His socio-economic status probably attracted the attention of many, including white supremacists, and publishing the novel that he did definitely ensured his own legitimacy and safety in the eyes of the Whites. Malcolm X, by contrast, was not born a slave. While he did experience racism during his childhood, he didn’t grow up constantly confined to the regulations of Jim Crow and while he was never taught Black history and was discouraged from taking on higher education, he was never denied the right to read. Because there was so much more room for Blacks in the North to express themselves, it was easier for Malcolm to think about things like Black self-determination and power and express his views showing how the two different eras these men grew up in affected their views and how they expressed them.

In the end, neither Booker T. Washington nor Malcolm X shaped African Americans’ lives in the way they wanted. Booker T. Washington’s description of a thriving, yet subordinate, African American class was undermined by the very same group of people he so desperately sought to appease. Similarly, Malcolm X’s dream of Black power through separatism was viewed as extreme and was never fully implemented. However, these two men still played a role in how some Americans, most notably African Americans, view history for the following decades. Many African Americans after Booker T. died believed that African Americans should gain their rights step by step and not try to bring rapid change like the Civil Rights activists were while others believed that Civil Rights failed at granting true autonomy for the African Americans.

Citations:

Works:

1. Puckett, John L. “Malcolm X, Part I: Malcolm Little’s Coming of Age.” West Philadelphia Collaborative History, University of Pennsylvania — Graduate School of Education, https://collaborativehistory.gse.upenn.edu/stories/malcolm-x-part-i-malcolm-little%E2%80%99s-coming-age

2. Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery. Dover Publications, 1995.

3. X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books, 1992.

Images:

1. "Booker T. Washington." Britannica, www.britannica.com/biography/Booker-T-Washington.

2. "Malcolm X." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malcolm_X_1963_press_photo.jpg.