Vocab to include with Malcolm X
Pre-Read
White nationalism - The creation of nation-states in which the cultural identity is rooted in white
supremacy and Christianity. This results in the creation of governments whose primary objective is to
create countries which benefit “white” citizens at the expense of “non-white” citizens.
Black Nationalism - A necessary response to white nationalism, that calls for the unification of Black
people globally to create and develop black institutions (education, political, and economic) as a
gateway to liberation of white supremacy.
Chapter 1
Internalized racism – the mental illness that occurs when black people believe European
cultural traits and physical features are superior to non-European physical features and cultural
traits. This causes black people to blame their oppression on themselves and not European or
white oppression
Theme reoccurs in chapter 3 with Malcolm, Shorty and the conk.
Theme seen in chapter 4 regarding Malcolm’s attraction to Sophia at the expense of Laura
Colorism – found in chapter 1 on page three – a manifestation of internalized racism in which
black people believe lighter skinned black people are superior to darker skinned black people.
In order to understand colorism, explain internalized racism.
Capitalism – the economic philosophy in which the government preferences the private
ownership of resources so that a relatively small group of individuals can make as much money
as possible which occurs at the expense of the majority of the population.
Upper class – also known as the bourgeoisie or capitalists – the small class of individuals which
own the resources and the means that are used to create goods dependent on resources
forcing the rest of society to depend on them for access to resources
Middle class – the group of individuals which outnumbers the bourgeoisie but not the lower
class. This class is a group of reasonably, yet still underpaid laborers who have enough access to
the bourgeoisie controlled resources that they are not living in poverty. This class is also named
the managerial class, for their compensation largely depends on the effectiveness of their
management of the lower class. While unlikely the individuals from the middle class do have
the ability to move into the bourgeoisie class. Generally this class is happy with the functions of
capitalism and do not wish to have it destroyed.
Chapter 1 page 5 – in order to understand the black middle class must understand capitalism
Chapter 3 page 42 – critique of black bourgeoisie seems to be a reoccurring theme. Says black
bourgeoisie in Boston (Roxbury) are brainwashed.
Lower class – the largest group of laborers who are underpaid (if paid at all) who have limited
to no access to resources and consequently live in poverty. The bourgeoisie’s amount of
resources is due to the uneven distribution which leaves the lower class with none. The lower
class has a limited opportunity to move to the middle class. This class is most likely to be
unhappy with the function of capitalism.
Black bourgeoisie – the group of black laborers who do not have the money of the white
bourgeoisie, and are actually middle class, but due to the high concentration of low paid
laborers in the black community are seen as the bourgeoisie. This class due to their proximity to
the white bourgeoisie have the ability to distribute resources within the black community and
often serve as the community leaders. The black bourgeoisie works to uphold capitalism
sometimes to the dismay of the rest of the black community.
Chapters 4 and 5 Malcolm really explains his love for jazz and dancing. While he does not
explicitly state this, the love of these two things can be tied to Malcolm’s love of authentic
black expression as seen through both music and dance. Malcolm understands jazz music is a
manifestation of the black experience. As Amiri Baraka explains years later, black art is “As
black as Coltrane’s saxophone.” Performance arts have always functioned as a method for
black agency, cultural memory, and identity reclamation. Tied to the Black Arts Movement in
the 60s, is a love for Malcolm and attempting to express his ideas. Consequently it may be
helpful to begin to introduce culture in these chapters.
Culture - The totality of thought and practice by which a people creates itself; celebrates,
sustains, and develops itself; and introduces itself to history and humanity.
Dr. Karenga states that culture has seven traits: history; spirituality and ethics (religion); social
organization (sports teams, fraternities and sororities, restaurants, ceremonies); political
organization (government); economic organization (how people make money); creative
production (art, music, literature, dance, etc.) and ethos (ideas that people accept as true).
Chapter 5 page 85
White flight – the mass migration of white people from an area due to fear of living in a
community with blacks. This process is aided by lies white relators tell stating that the property
values of the homes are dropping. Additionally white relators encourage white residents to
vacate the neighborhood and then resale the homes or rent the homes to blacks at double or
triple the original rates. These neighborhoods are also “redlined” by banks which exclude
Federal mortgage loans from being available to homes in these neighborhoods due to “high risk
of default” for more on this read Origins of the Urban Crisis
Assimilation - The act of disregarding one’s cultural and historical background and the
embracing of a foreign group’s cultural and historical background in order to gain acceptance
into the foreign group’s society.
Chapter 9 page 137
Patriarchy – bell hooks defines patriarchy as the political-social system that insists that males
are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially
females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that
dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence. In other words,
patriarchy is a system which impacts both the government and the manner in which people
think is the best way to behave. It argues that men are superior to everyone and if you are not a
male, you are deemed weak – especially women. It also argues that traits like strength and
violence are what makes a person powerful and if a man does not exhibit strength violently this
man is lesser (women of course are totally weak). Due to the strength of men and their ability
to dominate others through violence, men should rule and have the right to maintain their rule
by violently forcing others to follow their lead.
