Response to Malcolm X, Chapter 6
One thing that troubled me about Chapter 6 is how Malcolm voices his mistrust for women in it. He says "it was mainly the women who weren't prostitutes who taught me to be mistrustful of most women," (p.94). And this theme of not trusting women continues throughout the book, as he mentions several times that he thinks women are always trying to trick men. What bothers me about this is that he is trying to get black people to become equal to white people, but he thinks that women do not have the right to be equal to men. That seems very hypocritical. I think that it's possible that he saw his mother acting very differently around the man who came to their house, and trying to get him to marry her so that he could help her support the family and raise the children. Also, Malcolm only sees his first proud and strong woman when he is 14, which is his half-sister Ella. That may have given him a early mindset that women couldn't take care of themselves.
On page 100, Malcolm gets caught trying to lead an undercover agent to a prostitute. He learns after he does this to recognize the undercover police, and he never gets caught again by an undercover agent. This reminds me of the scene with Pai Mei from Kill Bill. Malcolm, like the Bride has to learn from his mistakes. Malcolm doesn't recognize a military agent and gets arrested, and the bride gets bloody knuckles from trying to break the wood. But, Malcolm learns how to spot undercover agents, and the Bride can eventually punch the wood without getting bloody knuckles.
