"The evil men do lives after them. The good that men do is oft interred with their bones."
I don't know very much about Malcolm X, though I just read the wikipedia entry on him.
I looked for some analysis of this speech, to see why on earth it might have been included, but came up empty.
It is a speech filled with beliefs contrary to my own. It is a speech that promotes divisiveness and hate. It is a speech that attacks rather than builds up. It is a speech that stands in marked contrast to the one that heads this list, and a speech that explains a man's ideas, complains about a situation, but refrains from offering any real solution.
How interesting that it follows President Clinton's speech where he implores us to speak against hate, to speak against violence.
I appreciate the right to free speech, and would not trade it for a society in which speeches like this were prohibited. But an overlooked gift of free speech is that we can choose what speech to celebrate and remember, and what to close the book on.
An eye for an eye is perhaps the easiest thing to understand - even stephen, equal recompense. It is easiest to reach for violence - it is quick. But it takes true strength of character and real nobility to see a way beyond that - a way of forgiveness, or reaching out with an open hand, and yes, a turning of the other cheek.
There are many rabbit trails to chase in this speech, but chasing them would lend a validity to hateful words.
Suffice to say this, I am more than thankful that the speech that heads this list is one that encourages everyone to put aside what divides.
And also this...tonight as a repair man installed a new battery in my car at the side of the road (don't worry Mom and Dad, everything's fine). A car slowed alongside and the driver, who was a black man, said very gently, "It happens."
"I know," I said. "The battery died." I shrugged helplessly with my upturned hands.
And we paused, and he looked on me with compassion, and then the light changed and he nodded very slowly and said, "I wish you the very best."
And I know he meant it. That is what I will remember of this day - the kind speech of that man, rather than the divisive language of another.
8.06.2008
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2 comments:
This selection is a real change of pace. I was having connectivity difficulty this morning so I read the text instead of listening. You know me, loud voices put me off and in reading the words, I expected them to be angry and loud. Don’t misunderstand, I still don’t agree with his solution, but it was easier to listen to than I imagined it would be from reading it. The delivery was more engaging that I expected it would be.
Remember this was the 60’s and great awakenings were happening. Everybody from blacks to flower children to feminists was testing empowerment. The Civil Rights movement was not monolithic. It was a continuum and encompassed everything from Black Power to Black Separatism and Nation of Islam to civil disobedience.
I guess in every conflict, there are the same factions: Militant and revolutionary like Malcolm X or pacifist and evolutionary like Gandhi and MLK. This speech reads like bad dialogue in a B-movie, but it sounds real. Black Separatism was a real movement. It scared a lot of people. It seems that violence isn’t very far away even when it seems impossible. Maybe the fear of one end of the spectrum made the other extreme more palatable to many.
Uncle Tom has always been popular for shouting and name calling and non-violence is so misunderstood. The Jews wanted Christ to war with the Romans – what good is a leader who says “Love your enemies”. Who will notice if all you do is sit at a lunch counter?
It turns out everyone did.
Love your commentary on this speech, and the Wilson speech.
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