Malcolm X Post 1

I'm amazed that Malcolm has even survived up until this point. He's not only been nearly shot more than once and put a loaded gun to his own head, but he's been on drugs throughout all of it. But through all his run-ins, a lot of stories have shown some interesting things about society in the 1940's. I have always known that upper-class, prominent people can not only be corrupt, but also can be perverts or criminals, as shown by this story about a perverted government figure:

 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901574.html) 

I never knew, however, that in the 40's when segregation and racism was extremely common, rich white people commonly used, and even paid Black people to act out their fantasies. Not only were these people corrupt behind the scenes, but as racist as they were, they couldn't get enough of Black people. Malcolm learned this working to help get customers at a brothel, as well as through stories he heard from other hustlers. This ties into how white people would also flock to Harlem at night to enjoy the "Negro Atmosphere." Even white women would secretly have relationships with Black men. I though this was really hypocritical, but also was just another example of racism. I would have been disgusted as a black person, since the whites would look down on them in public, but behind the scenes admire their culture and want to experience it. White people blatantly used them only when it was convenient, then used segregation to keep an edge. Black people played into it for some money to survive, but must have felt resentment underneath. 

This reminds me of how Jewish people were exploited for labor around the time of the Holocaust. While they were physically forced into it through violence, and Black people chose to do it for money, it was similarly one of the only options they had. Black people may not have been physically forced into these acts, but were socially and culturally limited in their options for work. Therefore, they had almost no choice but to do these odd jobs for rich whites, just as Jews had literally no choice but to build cars, and various other jobs the Germans forced upon them. 

I've never been truly exploited or used for being Jewish. The closest thing to it that I've experienced is the Jewish jokes or subtle anti-Semitic comments. It's so common that I don't get bothered, but sometimes I do. And when I do, it's not because of what was said, it's because the person felt like I wasn't worth not saying it around. I get more mad at getting personally disrespected than at my race being insulted, as long as the comments are in a joking manner, not a mean-spirited, racist way. If the intention was to get a reaction out of me, I feel disrespected, but if it was just to be funny, and my ethnicity happens to be the subject of the joke, I never have a problem with it.