Malcolm X

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Malcolm X
As individuals grow and interact with the society, they are likely to learn new things and ideas. The ideas learned and interactions shape people’s ways of life and mode of thinking. The changes might be positive or negative and sometimes may contradict the belief of the one experiencing change especially if it occurs to outspoken people. Various sociology theories explain why and how people change. Among these theories are the theory of social role and the theory of motivation. The biography of Malcolm X presents an individual who can easily be mistaken for a hypocrite because of how he developed and modified his image and beliefs. His changing views on America’s problem regarding racism accounts for the development of his character. The study will major in the theory of motivation and social role to consider Malcolm’s changes across his biography. Social Roles are collections of behaviors, obligations, and rights according to the concepts of the people involved in a defined society. The experience with the community mostly shapes people’s behavior. The theory of motivation by Mill and Gerth posits that experiences may motivate an individual’s attitude and action (Walker, N.P). The young Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) encountered the extreme effects of racism. As a young boy Malcolm watched, white people slaughter his father to death. The death of Malcolm’s dad followed an agency of white welfare institutionalizing Malcolm’s mom. The experienced motivated Malcolm’s ambition to pursue anti-white politics.

Later in life, Malcolm would easily believe any information connecting a white man to the devil. Even though Malcolm was young during the death of his father, the pain of losing a member of the family motivated his view that white people were evil and malicious. Furthermore, the action of role models in the society planted the wrong idea about skin color. For example, when Malcolm strived for academic excellence in the junior high school dominated whites, it the white teachers who thwart his progress and development in school. As a young child, much of Malcolm’s hardship was connected to white prejudice behavior towards African Americans. Every town (Midwest, Boston, and Detroit) he moved to have an exaggerated expression of racism. Practically, Malcolm’s early life was negative given the white race. His next attempt to advocate for serration of black race was an output of what the society had fed him as a young boy.
The surrounding communities and social status are likely to define the lifestyle of a given individual. In Detroit Malcolm’s lifestyle was that of a hustler accompanied by the rampant moral decadence in the society. Malcolm did not become a felon overnight; he slowly adopted the patterns of influences surrounding him. He came from Michigan and eventually took street life like drug peddling, bootlegging and gambling among other street life. The ghetto concept of living influenced the life of deceit and destructive personality of an individual. In the ghetto, there was not the much ethical expectation of a character and Malcolm never felt the need to be responsible for his behaviors. As a street boy, he only had one philosophy, which requires him not trust people. The same philosophy taught Malcolm to keep an open eye to all his enemies. Perhaps life on the street must have given him a wrong idea about race and the definition of an Africa American. His name (Detroit Red) is a representation the struggles he faced in the street to survive. Malcolm could attribute his behavior from the street life.
Social roles are either expectations or voluntary changes in behavior, which gives an individual a status in the society (Lopata, 3). The social functions encompass accepted form of behavior guided by the norms of society. These standards are predetermined by the society expectations on an individual’s roles. Malcolm’s personality changes from a street goon to a religious minister (Seekdaur and Hakim N.P). While in the status of a religious leader, Malcolm earns confidence and credibility as a real leader of “Black Muslims.” He shapes his image and identity to suit the society expectation of a religious leader. According to Seekdaur and Hakim, Malcolm X rose in ranks as a leader of Islam and the media gave Malcolm much attention. In this scenario, the expectation of the society changed Malcolm’s image from a street goon to a supreme religious leader. Perhaps Malcolm also realized the media attention and shaped his behavior to reflect the ideal leader of faith in the society.
An individual anticipation of praise, reward or punishments may shape behavior or role in a community. Sometimes the fulfillment, satisfactions, and behaving prosaically is an account for an agent to conform to patterns of behavior. These concepts of social roles also triggered the changes in Malcolm X life. Malcolm not only changed from a street goon to a religious leader but also felt the obligation to live according to the standards of Islamic expectations. Furthermore, he felt the responsibility to be the custodian of Islamic virtues and even rebelled against his mentor – Elijah Mohamed when Malcolm realized that Elijah was no longer promoting the values of Islam in the society. It is worth noting that Elijah once mentored Malcolm and taught him the values Muslims cherished. However, Malcolm, lost respect for Elijah when he came across hearsay that Elijah was an adulterer. Malcolm’s loyalty to Islamic philosophy encourages rebellion to Elijah. As an individual, he believed the Islam nature would support him for upholding the belief of a true Muslim.
Changes in conditions and expectations are likely to label a social role irrelevant or outdated. When an individual believes his former roles becomes illegitimate, social pressure may push for changes in roles, which also adjust image and behavior like the case of Malcolm X. Malcolm left the Nation of Islam which condemned ”the evils of the white.” After Malcolm’s visitation of Mecca, he realized that racial intolerance was an international problem. The duty was no longer for whites to respect the black but a call to all the races to bear with one another. Malcolm figured out that the extreme agendas of Muslims rebuke of the white behavior were promoted by “color blindness” (Seekdaur and Hakim N.P). To Malcolm, the extreme Islamic message had become irrelevant after realizing that racial prejudice was an international problem and not an issue for black Muslim alone. Malcolm movement along the international boundaries called for the realization of the worldwide catastrophe, which was far bigger than a religious war. Malcolm racial perspective had also matured beyond self-defense, but defending the international justice. Malcolm called for another movement different from that of respecting African Americans. The fight was not only for African American but also for the entire human race that was marginalized in the globe. The earlier political movement and activism in Malcolm’s life that called for black advocacy and separatism was militant and backed by hatred for the white people. However, his later activism that calls for international racial tolerance had no attachments with hostility but sought to create harmony to the entire human race.
Malcolm’s changing perspectives of America’s racial issues mirror the advancement of his character. At the point when he was a kid, he sees both of his folks obliterated by white society. He lost hope about the situation of blacks. His disposition changes, in any case, after his encounters operating the ghettos of Boston and New York, create in him the reasoning that African Americans ought not to acknowledge assistance from white individuals. The lessons of the Nation of Islam that he gets in jail affect a further change in both Malcolm’s character and his perspective of white men. He at the same time forsakes his wild past and grasps an efficient scorn of whites. His later visit in the Middle East cause another significant change; his break from the American Nation of Islam corresponds with his newly discovered conviction that blacks will be active in their battle for equal rights just on the off chance that they relate to mistreated people groups over the globe. His mentality toward the end of the work appears different to his past convictions in that he now underpins white investment in the battle for international liberation. In the wake of going through such a massive number of stages and seeing the race issue from such a large number of alternate points of view, Malcolm gets ready to settle on a theory in which he genuinely accepts.
Ideally, Malcolm was a victim of social change. Every adopted and abandoned behavior was much connected to the belief and behavior of the society. Malcolm is, therefore, a human figure and a symbol of changes people go through due to the demands of the society.

Work cited
Lopata, Helena Z. “Florian Znaniecki.” American National Biography (From Oxford University Press) (2010): Research Starters. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
Seekdaur, Lukmaan Hakim Khan. Malcolm X: The Pragmatic Nationalist. Hamburg, Germany: Anchor, 2014. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
Walker, Katherine. “Weber: Antipositivism And Verstehen.” Research Starters: Sociology (Online Edition) (2015): Research Starters. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.