> I do not think the use of Malcom X's biography is effective in a
> general American history class. It must be good for students with
> enough knowledge in Black Studies, but for average students, a book with a
> fairer viewpoint will be better. I recommend Weisbrot's Freedom Bound.
> It covers most of the activists including Malcom X.
>
> I guess I find myself wondering how the writer would use the
> Autobiography of Malcolm X in a US history class, and how the use
> aids to/hinders the effectiveness. Weisbrot's book is very much
> a nuts and bolts account of the politics of the civil rights
> movement (a much better book, in my view, is Taylor Branch's
> Parting the Waters)
Yes, I agree, great book...
> , whereas Malcolm X's work is an "inside narrative" by a black
> revolutionary. Malcolm X is much more
> provocative--can Weisbrot and Malcolm X be used with each
> other? Strikes me that teaching Malcolm X would be a fruitful
> field of inquiry for the issues raised by Professor Brown--US
> teachers of American history could learn from the perspectives
> of their international counterparts.
I agree. Much more interesting to read something provocative--and
students have already had the nonviolent integrationist version of the
Civil Rights Movt. handed down to them since day one in elementary
school (OK, I'm from the SF Bay Area, this may not be the case in other
states, but...). You could juxtapose excerpts from the biography with
excerpts of MLK Jr.'s books, not often read, or speeches. Or juxtapose
with Ralph Abernathy's autobiog., which is quite interesting.
Catherine M. Eagan
Boston College, English program