Malcolm X Myth Of Education

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The myth of education pertains to the essential human need for empowerment. We believe that going to school to be educated and getting outstanding grades is the key to success and prosperity in life; that those who excel in the classroom are the ones who gain authority and power. Knowledge is power- we have all heard it at least once before. For this reason, we as people are inclined to believe that formal schooling ultimately leads to power, control, security and respect. However, Malcolm X’s excerpt “Learning to Read” taken from his autobiography, demystifies such a myth. In his essay, he discloses to the reader his personal opinions on education and his experiences acquiring it. It was not formal schooling for he did not get past beyond…show more content…
He submits that prison enabled him to study far more intensively than he would have if his life had gone differently and he attended some college. His education allowed him to perceive the world with a peripheral mind that was never brain-washed in school. “My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America.” (217). The significance of this quote encompasses what Malcolm X is trying to accomplish, to address the issues of education on behalf of his people, in order to empower the black community. In a sense, he wants to liberate them from the limitations education imposes for the minority groups. African Americans are blind-folded and oblivious to their history, and are still grasping for what should already be naturally theirs, the right of equal opportunity to life. As Malcolm X talks about his own experience attaining the wealth of knowledge he has gained from reading books, he also succeeds in getting his point of view across to the reader…show more content…
I remember learning about the mounting concerns about the quality of education here in California in my english class last semester. I had learned about how California’s standardized test results were significantly lower compared to the standardized test results of other states. Funny thing, the article we were reading in class talked about how a conference was held by the Department of Education to discuss the issue of why students from minority groups, mostly Latinos and African Americans, typically score lower than the Caucasian students in California. The author of the article addressed the fact that California’s Department of Education failed to see the bigger quandary of the quality of our education in California. That all our students scored lower than all the students of other states, and not just the Latino and African American students. To conclude with, Malcolm X’s message was effectively delivered through the collective components of his main argument for the reason that it rings true till this
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