In the book Black Boy and the movie Malcolm X the main characters Richard Wright and Malcolm X grow up with racism and racism in turn grows them up. They both are blinded and defrayed from the American dream by racist people who in my mind feel threatened by their presence as a society.
In Black Boy Richard is born to a family that lived in poverty and despair. He experiences hardships that most people cannot even dream of living. He lives in the forefront of racism. As Richard matured and began to realize the biased opinions of so many against him and his people and he is confused. After he sees that he is limited as a person not by his actions but by his color he fights back. He fights against the people of his everyday life to try and accomplish his goals; freedom, equality, respect, and prosperity. All of which is part of “The American Dream” that is taken for granted by so many.
In the movie Malcolm X he like Richard grows up in poverty. His parents have difficulties supporting him and he like Richard has to fight for himself and struggle for the “American Dream”. He sleeps with white women to try to feel as if he is accomplishing the “American Dream”. He is thrown in jail for crimes that he committed. In jail is shown religion. When he is released he vows to God and preaches to the thousands of leaderless blacks looking for a light or something to believe in. He spreads the words of freedom with his fellow black leaders to thousands. Later he is shot by some of his own people.
The Essay on One People American Black
In this large city of ours situated on big spinning ball, inside a vast galaxy, and even larger universe. We sometimes tend to leap out into the unkown embracing and fearing life on other planets, when we can not embrace life or learn not to fear life on our own planet. We as a society have formed our own barriers when those placed upon us have been removed. We rarely see mixed neighborhoods ...
These men both vary different in many ways. Both grew up in totally different worlds but in many ways they had the exact same lives and if not for their courage and perseverance they had the same fate as so many of their ancestors. By these men sticking up for what they believed in they not only changed their lives but the lives of so many of their fellow men. All of which wanted to accomplish that same goal so many of us take for granted today. The “American Dream”.
