Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) - Early Life

The Earlier Years of Malcolm X and His Family

Since before Malcolm’s birth, his family has been a victim of racism. Reverend Earl Little (Malcolm’s father) had experienced the death of three of his brothers by white men and one by lynching. This cause Rev. Little to become an active preacher of Marcus Garvey's pro-black and Back-to-Africa beliefs. Because of these beliefs, Malcolm’s family was often the target of racist acts.

One evening while Malcolm’s mother was still pregnant with Malcolm, she and her children were paid a visit by the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan opposed Reverend Little and his philosophies and upon finding out that he was not home broke every window in their house and galloped away shouting racial slurs and threats.

Due to this incident, the Little family moved from their home in Omaha to Milwaukee. While attempting to set up shop in Milwaukee, the Little family again experienced hate crimes. Malcolm’s "first vivid memory" is of "a frightening confusion of pistol shots and shouting and smoke and flames" while his home burned to the ground.

Shortly afterward, they moved to the area of East Lansing proper, the location of Michigan State University. After being harassed again they moved, this time two miles outside of town. At this time Malcolm experience friction between his parents and the child abuse of his older siblings by his mother. Despite this friction, the family lived well in a good part of Michigan. Being such a nice area, Negroes were not permitted after dark. One night, after a fight had caused Rev. Little to take a walk, Malcolm and family were awaken by the terrible news of their father’s death by beating. In a simple act of racism that drastically affected the lifestyle of the Little family, a large insurance policy which Rev. Little had sign, had refused to pay. With only menial jobs to support the nine person family, Malcolm’s mother began receiving welfare checks. With this came the deterioration of her pride and eventual psychological downfall. Soon after, the family fell into poverty and could not feed itself.

After much struggle, the welfare agency managed to put Malcolm in the home of a nearby family. Things were fine at the nearby family, but shortly afterward, Malcolm was expelled from school for disruptive behavior. He then moved to a detention home where he showed how he was able to be reformed. Shortly after, he was accepted into the local school, nearly all-white. In this school he interacted well with the white students and got high marks. Then in eighth grade a teacher asked him if he had any thoughts on a future career. The teacher’s response to Malcolm’s answer of "lawyer" changed Malcolm forever. The teacher said Malcolm should try to get a career suited for his kind, such as carpentry. Malcolm could not deal with the fact that although his scores were high, society still said he had little chance for success in a legal field. Malcolm was then unable to associate with whites as he had before. Shortly after he moved to live with a well-to-do aunt in Mason, Michigan.