Blog Post #7 - Malcolm X Chapter 6: Detroit Red
Part 1: Record a thoughtful and concise response to the following prompt:
Chapter 6 is somewhat controversial. There are people who believe that Malcolm exaggerated his ghetto nature and criminal involvement, making for a more interesting story while also adding a severe backdrop to which to compare his later salvation.
What did YOU think as you were reading Chapter 6? Do you buy Detroit Red’s story? Is he telling the truth or creating a more dangerous world than what he actually experienced? Support your opinion using at least TWO pieces of textual evidence from Chapter 6 in your response.Part 2: Read through the comments made by other students and choose two comments to REPLY to.
I think he did exaggerate but, I think he did it to compel the reader to think Harlem was as dangerous as he described. "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals" (6-105-4). He uses terms like "animals" and "vultures" to describe how wild these smokers would get. If he was exaggerating, they would sound like they are actually of their rockers. "He stared at me as if I were a snake's egg hatching egg" (6-110-4). During Malcolm visit with the psychiatrist, he made it look like he was going insane so he didn't have to join the army. If he exaggerated, he would put in the extra effort to seem hing and insane so he DEFINITELY didn't have to be in the army.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Malcolm exaggerated to make his story more interesting and as an attention grabber the more you read and that Harlem wasn't really that bad of a place as Malcolm made it out to be.
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DeleteI agree with you about the part referring to the army. Malcolm exaggerating his actions so he wouldn’t have to join the army. Even though he shouldn’t have been drafted in the first place because he was not of age. I also agree with your first piece of evidence. He used some very good choice words to exaggerate the kind of people he was selling reefers to.
I feel that in those times our exaggeration is nothing due to the conditioning of our lives. He could definitely have done those things because that was considered normal back then, whereas now it is so big that you would have to think it is an exaggeration.
DeleteI believe that Harlem was as dangerous as he described it as. "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals" (105). Malcolm finds that selling reefers and narcotics was a good job for him because everybody in Harlem did drugs and Malcolm saw the opportunity and he took it. "I didn't last long down there, either. I lost too much of my product. After I sold sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animal, they followed me and learned my pattern" (105). This quote explains that Malcolm doesn't notice the danger of what he's doing in Harlem, selling reefers and narcotics is a job for a pimp but not a safe one.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised I didn't use this kind of point of view. I didn't really think how common the use of drugs was back then. Everyone smoked "reefers", so he can't really exaggerate any of that if everyone was into that. He has specific thoughts on everything. Nice job and I love the quote.
DeleteI also have to agree, drugs were very easy to get back than especially with the gangs and hustlers back than being huge. just like you said selling reefers and narcotics was a "good job" since it paid a huge amount of cash because everyone would smoke so reefers had huge demand and were bought a ton. Many of people were introduced to drugs especially at a young age so it makes sense
DeleteI agree with your comment saying that everyone did drugs back then. Drugs were easy to get and easy to sell and the risk of getting caught didn't mean much to him because he wasn't that scared to lose his life.
DeleteI agree that the reason Malcolm was selling and got into bad things were because everyone in Harlem were into the same thing. He found it easy to get money because everything he was selling everyone wanted and it made it easy for him to get the money he needed. I also agree that he did not realize the danger he was putting himself in.
DeleteI believe that he exaggerated to an extent. He used similes in his story to give more of an idea on how it was, but not many. I believe most of the things he said were true because during that time period it was so hard for an African-American to get by in life that they did what they could to just scrape some money. It can still be hard today and we are so much better than we used to be.
ReplyDeleteI thought Malcolm was getting in over his head and falling into a dark part of society. I don’t buy Detroit Red’s story because I think he was just making up some of the events that happened or that he was simply changing certain parts of the story to what he was either think at the time or making stories he heard and making them his story. I think he is lying and making the world more dangerous than what really happened and instead told his story based on what he saw and learned as he lived in the city. One example of this is when he said (Haley 104) “I don’t know now what my real thoughts were about carrying the pistol”. Another example of Malcolm giving into society was when he said (Haley 110) “Organize them nigger soldiers, you dig? Steal us some guns, and kill us crackers!””
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you on the part of Malcolm giving into society when he was with the doctor at the army. He said that intentionally because he wanted everyone there to think he was crazy so he didn't have to go into army and fight. "I circled and hedged, watching him closely, to let him think he pulling what he wanted out of me. I kept jerking around, backward, as though somebody might be listening. I knew I was going to send him back to the books to figure what kind of a case I was." (110). Malcolm was clearly acting out of character so the army would have to reject him and he had his plan that he knew was going to work, and it did.
DeleteI thought the quote you used from page 104 made Malcolm's story more reliable, as he is admitting when he cant remember exactly what happened. This likely meas he is not lying about the rest of the story. If you believe that he could be telling stories about what he saw in the city, why is it hard to believe that he was truly the one the stories are about?
DeleteI agree with the fact that Malcolm makes Detroit seem more dangerous than it really is. Even though he may say some things that makes the reader think about how hard Malcolm has gone through to get somewhere may not seem that hard to Malcolm. And all the pimps say that the city is hard for them, Malcolm doesn't find it hard at all.
DeleteI agree with you, Malcolm twisted the story so it made his life more interesting. The part where you mentioned Malcolm changing other people's stories and making them his own is very interesting. It makes sense that he did that because some of his life didn’t sound true at all.
DeleteI think that Malcolm was telling the truth for most of his story because most of what he says makes sense given what time period it was. When he was describing the some of the people who came into Smalls he only talked about the thieves and criminals. "I should stress that Small's wasn't a nest of criminals. I dwell upon the hustlers because it was their world that fascinated me." (Haley 93). Malcolm was the most interested in the hustler world and how they lived their lives, so he told his story mainly with the hustler parts of his life, so it seems like Malcolm's life was more dangerous because he only told the reader the "more exciting" parts of his life. Malcolm was also telling the truth about when he had to go get checked out for the army. "The day I went down there, I costumed like an actor. With my wild zoot suit I wore the yellow knob-toe shoes, and I frizzled my hair up into a reddish bush of conk." For the most part, Malcolm was telling the truth about his visit with the army and how he acted crazy so he didn't have to go fight.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you that Malcolm was tell the truth about his experiences in Harlem because he went back couple times and questioned some of the action or things he said in the book.
DeleteI agree with you. If I made a story too I would make it exciting and interesting. Who would want to read a part of a story that talks about what they learned in math and what questions were asked? I know i wouldn't. Some things we said were true and some were exaggerated and some were simply lies. But that is what a story is right?
DeleteI agree that he was kind of fronting his most important experiences. Like he would tell all of his “juicy” stories and leave out the boring or minor stories and experiences giving the audience an expectation of what the city was like based on the “big” experiences.
DeleteI do agree that Malcolm was probably telling the truth for the most part of the story, but I feel that the small exaggerations add up over the chapter. For example, Malcolm talks about how he carried around 50 sticks when he'd make his runs. As I said in my blog, these small exaggerations make the story interesting but are falsified. I also believe that his intentions to provide vivid pictures in the readers mind, generally cause the story to veer off from the real truth.
DeleteI agree that the time period has a big impact on choosing whether or not these situations could be accurate or not. I love how your quote shows and specifies how many criminals there were and how normal it was. I feel if you added my quote I used, it would enhance the feeling of the time more. “This was the worst of the ghetto,the poorest people, the ones who in every ghetto keep themselves narcotized to keep from having to face their miserable existence” (105).
DeleteI agree that he was intrigued by how hustlers lived, this time period makes sense for what his story says which makes his story more believable. This helps with trusting Malcolm's word for accuracy of his story.
DeleteI agree with you that Malcolm was telling the truth because Harlem was a dangerous place However I think he exaggerated a lot for example when he talked about how people would claim he was part of the band and would tear up his shirt, I doubt they would just randomly come up to him and try to do that daily. in my opinion he was mainly trying to make himself seen as someone who was dangerous.
DeleteI agree with you, given the sense of the time has an large influence on the crime rate in most cities. Harlem should be no different to these events in his period, as an war was going on more and more men get drafted into the military including the military tries to play an part in halting crime with the police causing an change in how it treats the justice system.
DeleteI believe that Malcolm is telling the truth about how dangerous Harlem was. For example, he states, “I came in and found signs that my room had been entered. I knew it had been detectives. I’d heard too many times how if they couldn’t find any evidence, they would plant some, where you would never find it, then they’d come back in and “find” it.” (104). This quote shows how back then authoritative figures would harass people’s rights and would use their authoritative power in a bad way to purposefully get others in trouble. Another example is when Malcolm states, “After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals, they followed me and learned my pattern. They would dart out of a doorway, I’d drop my stuff, and they would be on it like a chicken on corn.” (105). This quote illustrates how the people there in Harlem were probably willing to do almost anything just to get their hands on some drugs. Thus showing that he wasn’t exaggerating. He got good money from selling but around each corner there were cops, people, addicts and dangerous situations.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Malcolm was telling the truth because Harlem was a dangerous place and how the people downtown followed him and took his reefers. Before Malcolm said how poor the people living down there were and how badly they lived, so they smoked reefers to help coop with that so it makes perfect sense that they would follow Malcolm around and lunge at the dropped reefers.
DeleteI agree. It was difficult to live as in African-American in those times. We are better now but it can still be hard for them to get by in this world. In those days an African-American would do practically anything to make some money. And it made it more dangerous having policemen plant evidence on someone taking their authority as power thinking they are above the law.
DeleteYou are exactly right, Harlem really was quite a dangerous place to be! I think that some people may think he is making up these stories because in this day and age, the events Malcolm were involved in is not seen as much. I completely agree that he didn't lie about his criminal involvement, as we know that poverty, drug deals, and discrimination do exist, and it is what got him into this position.
DeleteI agree that Harlem was far from the safest place to be hanging out, what with all the drug abuse and prostitution, in addition to fear created by the continued police presence and corruption. I also agree with Courtney's reply leading into correlation between poverty and criminal activity such as petty theft or drug dealing because that may become a person's only means of supporting him or herself.
DeleteDrug-related violence and corruption are a big part of why I picked the city in Mexico I want to live in over others; I'd rather live somewhere safe than somewhere I'd be hearing gunshots from my porch every night.
I agree that the events in Malcolm's were not exaggerated and actually happened to him because Harlem was very dangerous back in that time period. People were harder to catch and drugs were easier to find.
DeleteI believe that Detroit Red was telling the truth about what he experienced: selling drugs for a living. Not once did I doubt any of the bad decisions that Malcolm made while reading this chapter, because it's clear that it is what he had to do to get by. Harlem was a very poor city back in 1943, “everyone in Harlem needed some kind of hustle to survive, and needed to stay high in some way to forget what they had to do to survive” (94). Although Detroit Red’s hustle to survive may seem like an exaggeration to some, the times have changed tremendously since then, making it seem unrealistic to us. Another example that life at that time really was rough is this: “this was the worst of the ghetto,the poorest people, the ones who in every ghetto keep themselves narcotized to keep from having to face their miserable existence” (105).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that he wasn't exaggerating because it was his life. Ever since he got introduced to selling, buying, and using reefers it was like an addiction. He got good money, so in his mind he probably thought it was better than having an actual job. And since the money and the drugs were so addicting to him, he had to keep selling in order to survive.
DeleteI would agree with you just because of life experiences and the life struggle in other parts of the world (ghetto) plus why would Malcolm lie about his own life.
DeleteI agree with everything you said, especially with how times have changed. Even now people "hustle" but it's not the main thing like it was back in Harlem when everyone was poor and that's what they had to do to get money and even though it's not as obvious as it was back then, that doesn't mean he was lying. You can very much look at someone and think that they don't sell drugs but they very well could.
DeleteI agree because he didn't have much to give other and he couldn't give a lot because of where he lived and how he was tread as a young boy
DeleteAs we were reading chapter 6, I believe a little bit of Detroit Red’s stories. I believe that they are true to an extent. He is creating a more dangerous world than what he actually experienced, “I played right into the hands of a military spy”(100). He could have spiced up how he got fired so it was more interesting. He could have just been let go in a normal way, but for his life to seem more interesting he thought he needed to make up a story. “In several of the apartments the women tenants were prostitutes”(94). This piece of evidence contributed to the claim that his life in Harlem was exaggerated because there was probably one or two prostitutes that lived really close to him and that's why he felt like there were so many.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he is embellishing the truth to make the story seem more interesting and potentially to draw more attention and/or sympathy to himself, but as you said, I don't think he's lying outright; most of the gist of what he's saying is true.
DeleteI agree that Malcolm is "making up" some parts of the story to make it seem like the city is really dangerous. And as Malcolm goes through the city, he starts to take on these challenges to get more attention on to him so it seems like he is the hero of the situation.
DeleteI agree that Malcolm did fib a little bit about how dangerous Harlem was. Even if he did his drug business, he was probably safer than just sitting and doing nothing with his life
DeleteWhile I do think Malcolm probably exaggerated some details of his life in Harlem to make a more interesting story, I don’t think he did so any more than is natural, given that human memory is imperfect. I can easily see someone meeting a wide range of other people, including pimps, prostitutes, and other unsavory characters at a restaurant job, where he is interacting with a cross-section of the population on a daily basis. I know, for one, that when I started ninth grade here in 2016, just hanging around the school, within the first week I had already met quite a few of the people from higher grades I’d seen in yearbooks and thought seemed cool. For example, on page 94 he mentions, “In several of the apartments the women tenants were prostitutes…. I’d guess that everyone who lived in the house used dope of some kind.” He is probably exaggerating on the latter count, likely just generalizing from the people he did know from in that building, though given the context of where he was and with whom he hung out, I don’t doubt that there was ample prostitution and drug use going on there. He also mentions getting really rich really fast by selling marijuana: “I kept turning over my profit, increasing my supplies, and I sold reefers like a wild man…. Every day, I cleared at least fifty or sixty dollars.” (102) That seems a little unlikely to me, as $60 in 1943 would equal roughly $871 in 2018; I don’t doubt he made considerable cash, though I’m thinking this may have been a good day’s sales and he’s saying every day was that good to embellish the story. To summarize, I wouldn’t take 100% of what he says as the absolute truth, simply because the truth is often boring or unmemorable and the human memory is imperfect, but I am inclined to trust him as I see no reason not to at this point.
ReplyDeleteIn my blog I also mention the profit he claims to have made. I find it very unlikely to be making that much in that specific time period. He was a one man show, which means he'd have to be constantly hustling. I could definitely see this amount of profit if Malcolm had a few workers under his belt. On another note I completely agree with how you ended! He’s not exaggerating too much that it seems untrustworthy, just enough to allow the reader to be interested.
DeleteI agree that he did exaggerate his ghetto nature, but I do think it was convenient for him to add that part of his life because it helps explain his story in more detail. I think he exaggerated some of the cash he made, "A roll of money was in my pocket. every day, I cleared at least fifty to sixty dollars." (102). I think that this was a little exaggerated since he was only selling marijuana and there is no way he could make that much in a day off of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he exaggerates a bit, but i also think that he would have no reason to add parts to his autobiography just because of what he represents for equal rights.
DeleteI think Malcolm was mostly telling the truth with minor exaggerations. He was expressing that Harlem was dangerous and impoverished like when he says, “Practically everyone played every day in the poverty-ridden black ghetto of Harlem” (Page. 88). He chooses the words “black” and “ghetto” to set the scene on how run down Harlem was. Another quote where Detroit Red’s story makes sense is when he says, “A controller might have as many as fifty runners working for him, and the controller got five percent of what he turned over to the banker, who paid off the hit, paid off the police, and got rich off the balance” (Page. 88). This quote expresses how corrupt the city was. Cops were taking bribes and controller was getting rich off the differences. I think overall, he was telling the truth about his past experiences.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that the city was corrupt. Most of the city was poor, ghetto, and cops didn’t do their jobs. He had a lot of experiences with cops watching him, and he experienced injustices quite often. For example when detectives would break into his room and plant reefers and when they would randomly search him on the streets.
DeleteI also agree with you comment about corruption in his city, Malcolm only being 17 is exposed to drinking and drugs, and then gets in trouble with cops for trying to sell a prostitute to a solder, I feel that Malcolm could be doing something a little better with his time.
DeleteI agree that Malcolm did exaggerate some of his stories, because even though Malcolm had a tough life he most likely mad his life seem worse so that his book was better in the sense that he was such a horrible guy but found redemption. Therefore by his stories being worse it gives him a better redemption story.
DeleteI agree that he may have exaggerated some parts of his story but for the most part was telling the truth. I think he may have exaggerated some numbers, like how much he made from "peddling reefers".
DeleteI agree because he got involve with bad people and stared doing drugs and going out to party's at 17! where he was getting involve with women and stared drinking and getting in trouble with cops
DeleteIn Malcolm X’ autobiography, Malcolm I feel over exaggerates some parts of the story but I do not think any of the parts are fake. A part that I think he exaggerates a bit is when he’s walking down a street in buffalo, “In some of the small towns, people thinking I was with the band even mobbed me for autographs. Once in Buffalo, my suit was nearly torn off.” I think it’s exaggerated because people wouldn’t act like that for someone they did not know, and if people did know Malcolm they would know he’s not in a band. Another was when Malcolm was talking to the psychiatrist, “I circled and hedged, watching him closely, to let him think he was pulling what he wanted out of me. I kept jerking around, backward, as through somebody might be listing. I knew I was going to send him back to the books to figure what kind of case I was.”
ReplyDeleteI very much see where you're coming from. I could see his own family and friends recognizing him, but all these people in foreign towns and cities recognizing him and mobbing him for autographs as though he was already someone famous seems a little suspicious to me too. As for trying to convince the psychiatrist he was insane, I don't see that as fake at all; it would take a lot of staged, highly unusual behavior to convince some stranger who's never seen you that you're insane.
DeleteI agree that he exaggerated to make his experiences “pop” and seem more dramatic than they actually were. When you quoted: “In some of the small towns, people thinking I was with the band even mobbed me for autographs. Once in Buffalo, my suit was nearly torn off.” I also agree with you when you said that people would not act like that for a stranger.
DeleteI agree, especially if these bands were as popular as he described. I feel that he would not be getting as much paparazzi nor autographs, simply because people probably didn’t know who Malcolm was, as he was just some drug dealer at this point of time. I do also believe he exaggerated other things like how many prostitutes were in his apartment, but I think he did this to get people to pay more attention, to probably get an idea of the real story, just in a more dramatic sense.
DeleteI don’t doubt that a lot of these events actually happened throughout Malcolm's life, but I do believe many of the stories he tells are exaggerated. The biggest reason why I think this is because no one really wants to read a boring book. While telling the stories Malcolm adds little exaggerations like “I carried about fifty sticks”(Haley104) in order to make the risk seem greater. Without this substantial increase of risk, Malcolm's “hustle” seems like almost a waste of time. Although it does make sense to carry that amount while being around the bands, he makes it seem like it was an everyday average to carry around fifty sticks. Along with that, I doubt the amount of money he was able to make was a bit of an exaggeration as well. Given the time period, it’s rather unlikely to make $50-$60 almost daily. For the stories sake it, manipulating the truth makes things more interesting forcing the reader to keep digging.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that he lied only to make his life story more interesting but, during this time period that Malcolm was in, I wouldn't doubt that he had a lot of "sticks" it seems that reefers and drugs like that seemed to be popular.
Deletei disagree, selling reefers was his only sense of income at this point in the book since he had just been fired from Smalls paradise. He was making runs all over town, so i in no doubt feel that he was actually carrying around 50 reefers.
DeleteI would agree with you about the boring book part but no one exactly wants to read a AUTOBIOGRAPHY of a person that's based on lies.
DeleteI feel as if Malcolm told the partial truth on the situations that happened. I feel like it's impossible to lie about the changes he had to make to be able to sell "sticks". For example, when the cops started catching on to what he was doing, he adapted by moving city to city and also found ways to hide his gun and ways to drop off drugs to people/band's. You can't really exaggerate that kind of stuff, because it happened, and we as a reader have to remember how old this story takes place in. It's from way back then, and situations like this was probably normal, especially in a super poor and ghetto area. Malcolm say's “This was the worst of the ghetto,the poorest people, the ones who in every ghetto keep themselves narcotized to keep from having to face their miserable existence” (105). Malcolm also puts his own emotion into telling these situations. He says “I don’t know now what my real thoughts were about carrying the pistol” (104). If he is putting how he feels into the explanation of everything, he really can't be lying.
ReplyDeleteI agree that he was telling the partial truth but I feel he exaggerated in parts where he was on the train serving, if he had many warnings and was fired he must not have been that great at his job I agree in some part he couldn't really exaggerate that he had a gun or how he was peddling "sticks" but there is also some partial truths that.
DeleteI agree with you, when Malcolm puts his emotions into his story telling its makes it more real. If someone was telling a fake story they wouldn't even think to put real emotions into it because it's not real, it's not something they really experienced so they wouldn't even know how to put feeling into it.
DeleteI’m kind of in the middle between over dramatic and not over dramatic because some of the things that he was saying throughout this chapter. I think one part that was over dramatic was the whole building full of prostitutes “Seeing the hallways and stairs busy any hour of the night with white and black men coming and going was no more than one would expect when one lived in a building out of which prostitutes were working.”(page 94 going to 95)Then their is this part where it is not over dramatic, there was this girl who was a prostitute who was supposed to hate negros. “One of his white women, known as “Akabama Peach,” a blonde, could put everybody in stitches with her drawl; even the several Negro women numbers controllers around small’s really liked her...give her two drinks and she would tell her life story in a minute; how in whatever little Alabama twon it was she came from, the first thing she remembered being conscious of was that she was supposed to “hate niggers.”
ReplyDeleteI agree and feel as well in the middle because he goes and makes it sound like some things are true but others are more of a exaggeration to make it seem worse then it really was.
DeleteI agree with you because Harlem does sound like a dangerous place but at the same time, did the events that Malcolm claim to be true actually occur? Or was he exaggerating some of the events to better fit his story to make it more exciting? We don't fully know. But what we do know is that Harlem is a dangerous place with dangerous people who make mistakes and I believe that some of the mistakes are not one hundred percent true as he claims them to be.
DeleteI agree that in some situations he was being dramatic but he was also not being dramatic. i feel like he would take things way to far like when he hit shorty's girl just because she was mad at the fact that shorty was with him when things went down. But the fact that he did live in a different generation from us that explains the reasons he did the things he did.
DeleteAlthough Malcolm’s story is wild and crazy as he explains the things he experienced, I think that he is telling the truth about this time in his life. Things were drastically different back in the 1940’s compared to today as someone could possibly get away with more, for example, Malcolm always passed off as older and never had to verify his age which enabled him to do things that he otherwise couldn’t. Also as he was in a large city, he was surrounded by many different people such as pimps, hustlers, and prostitutes. Knowing that, he was bound to have some wild experiences. “The minority were in some other racket or hustle -- boosters, number runners, or dope peddlers -- and I’d guess that everyone who lived in the house used dope of some kind” (94). Something else that shows that his experiences have authenticity is that he actually learned many things from living the ghetto life which mostly has to do about people and how they act. “It was these working prostitutes who schooled me to things that every wife and every husband should know” (94). This shows that through his time in the ghetto, he learned life lessons from the people he met and the things he was involved in.
ReplyDeleteI disagree Malcolm most likely exaggerated his stories when he was in prison. Therefore when he went to prison which was a prison that only the worse criminals went to, he most likely had to make his stories more dramatic than what they actually were so no one tried anything because they thought he had connections and was a bad a$$.
DeleteI disagree, I do believe he exaggerated some parts of the story, but only to give us a better sense of what Harlem and his life were like, not to totally just lie about it. One part I absolutely do not believe is how he got the paparazzi and was asked to sign autographs when alongside these bands, if the bands were as popular as he said they were, I feel like people would have known that Malcolm wasn’t part of the band.
DeleteMalcolm does exaggerate his stories to make it seem like he had it worse than what he had. Although there are some truths to his bizarre stories for example his best friend being a pimp ‘“Sammy the pimp.” He could, as I have mentioned, pick out potential prostitutes by watching their expressions in dance halls. Sammy and I became, in time each other’s closest friend.” page(91). Malcolm may have had a pimp for a best friend but he does exaggerate most of his stories like living in a building full of prostitutes which is highly unlikely because it would be too easy for them to get caught. Therefore Malcolm might have lived in a building with ten prostitutes at most. For example; “Sophia would come in on a late afternoon. She would come to small’s and I’d introduced her all around until I got off from work. She was bothered about me living among the prostitutes until I introduced her to some of them, and they talked, and she thought they were great.” page(96). By Malcolm saying living among the prostitutes can make the reader infer that he only lives by prostitutes which is an exaggeration of what really happened.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I feel that he may have exaggerated more then what happened but also some truth and this could have been totally different if he would have stayed in school.
DeleteI agree that he may have exaggerated but i also feel that he has really no reason to lie about these kinds of things, because his life is already so interesting.
DeleteI don't think Malcolm exaggerated because time back then was very different from now. You wouldn't know unless you lived there back then to see what it was like. Malcolm has reason to exaggerate but I don't think he did because what he explains he did is what they had to do back then unlike now. People wouldn't do the things he did now but back then people would find unique ways of doing stuff. It was a lot easier to get away with some things back then unlike now we have new technology. The struggle was a lot harsher back in the day: “this was the worst of the ghetto, the poorest people, the ones who in every ghetto keep themselves narcotized to keep from having to face their miserable existence” (Haley 105). Even though Malcolm has reasons to exaggerate I think he did not because life back then wasn't like now a days. People did different things back then and we've come a long way with a lot of different ways to do stuff. Technology has made us lazier than people back then so it's not hard to believe Malcolm is telling the truth because things were so different compared to now.
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ReplyDeleteI find that Malcolm’s life has been hard for a good portion of his life and him learning how to hustle kind of shows that this chapter is telling the truth based on his previous experiences in his life and what he has had to learn from. He started out learning about all of these really good criminals like “Dollarbill,” “Fewclothes,” “Jumpsteady,” and a few others while working at Small’s Paradise. He eventually made it into hustling reefer’s to people while being undetected by the cops. “I would carry about fifty sticks in a small package inside my coat, under my armpit, keeping my arm flat against my side” (Halsey 104). He would do this to not get anybody on his tale about it then if he saw anything suspicious or see someone twice he would drop the package somewhere they could not see him, “If anybody looked suspicious, I’d quickly cross the street, or go through a door, or turn a corner, loosening my arm enough to let the package drop” (Halsey 104). He would usually do this during night time so he has a lesser chance of being caught while doing this.
ReplyDeleteI agree because he wouldn't survive out in the streets of Harlem without becoming a hustler after losing his jobs at Small's and the rail road train. He would be "schooled" again by learning people's stories, how things worked in Harlem, and trying new things.
DeleteI feel that Malcolm didn’t exaggerate in this chapter only because he learned how to hustle and that really shows in this chapter because he met a lot of criminals and was working at a bar called “Smalls paradise”. Which lead to him selling reefers to people while staying off he cops radars. This is shown when he says “ I would carry about fifty stick in a small package inside my coat, under my armpit, keeping my arm flat against my side”. (104) This is how he’d stay off the cops radar and stay low key. If he thought anyone even looked suspicious he would cross the street or ditch their eyesight and this is shown when he said “ If anybody even looked suspicious, I’d quickly cross the street or go through a door, or a corner, loosening my arm enough to the let the package drop “.(104)
ReplyDeleteI agree where you said that he learned how to hustle, however; I think he exaggerated some of the senerio's he got himself caugh up in. Yes, he got into dangerous things, but I think that some of his stories are questionable and the choices he made, made me wonder if what he did was true or a little fabricated.
DeleteI believe that Malcolm’s story is a little over exaggerated to add more chaos than there actually was. For example, “The room had fallen vacuum-quiet, with me running my mouth a mile a minute, talking nothing but slang. I was going to fight on all fronts; I was going to be a general, man, before I got done-such talk as that. Most of them were white,of course. The tender looking ones appeared ready to run from me.”(109) I think he exaggerated this part a little because he needed to appear as if he were crazy by not only fooling the psychiatrist, but by fooling the other men being considered to be drafted. This is another area where I believe he was exaggerating, “Daddy-o, now you and me we’re from up north here, so don’t you tell nobody…. I want to get sent down south. Organize them nigger soldiers, you dig? Steal us some guns and kill us some crackers.”(110) I think this is a little exaggerated because he threatened lives in front of a psychiatrist who determines if he is stable enough to be drafted and if he were unstable wouldn’t he be needing a full psych evaluation? Either way I believe that the way the story is written is much more entertaining and compelling for the reader.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that Malcolm's story is alittle over exaggerated because that's what some people do they exaggerate a lot of things in their life but then you have the people who don't do that that actually just tell you the story just the way it happened but then they might add alittle bit of dramatic into the story.
DeleteI believe that he did exaggerate his ghetto life a bit, he was at least 17 at this time and still has a developing mind. Teenagers tend to over do the situation in their heads a bit and believe it later on in life. But I do feel like there is some truth about the whole thing, like when he was peddling “sticks”, if somebody look off, weird, or suspicious he’d do the whole drop it out of sight and keep moving bit “moving about, I kept my eyes open, if anybody looked suspicious, I’d quickly cross the street, or turn a corner loosening my arm enough to let the package drop.”(Haley)104. I believe he took more caution them most people and played up the action to look better than he was.
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ReplyDeleteI think he was living in a somewhat dangerous place, However in my opinion he exaggerated and made it seem worse than it really was. I think the reason he exaggerated it was because Harlem wanted to make his story more interesting and as an attention grabber because the more we read throughout the story we start seeing that Harlem wasn't really in that bad of a place to live. There were many times where he exaggerates a great example where he does is when he talks about the towns he lived in he says “people thinking I was with the band even mobbed me for autographs. Once in Buffalo, my suit was nearly torn off.” (pg. 94) I think it’s exaggerated because people wouldn’t just randomly assume you’re in the band unless you went around trying to make it seem like you were. Another great example on where he exaggerated was when he pointed out that he had a huge amount of “sticks” he says “I carried about fifty sticks” (pg. 104) I doubt he was carrying that much, especially for his time.
ReplyDeleteI agree when Malcolm exaggerated the fact that people would think he was part of a famous band and people would want his autograph. Probably because he was seen entering the backstage where the band people are in, selling drugs to them.
DeleteI think that Malcolm X was telling the truth for the most part. In the time period he was living in and the dangerous places he was in it makes sense that stuff easily could've been true. An example that shows how Harlem was dangerous back then is when Malcolm says “I didn't last long down there, either. I lost too much of my product. After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals, they followed me and learned my pattern” (105) Another quote showing the dangers in Harlem is “Practically everyone played every day in poverty- ridden black ghetto of Harlem” (88)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you because you never know if what he said was true or not. And yes, back in the day it was really different than what it is now to know if they were over dramatic about everything in their life, like don’t get me wrong some people still over react about everything that just happened in their life today or even yet yesterday. It’s just part of life and I don’t think that over reacting about a lot of things in life is ever going to change.
ReplyDeleteI believe Malcolm is telling a true story, but writing with the mindset of a hustler. His story is easy to follow along and flows easy. He talked about how “Small’s was one of Harlem’s two or three most decorous nightspots,” (Haley 93). This meaning it is safe for the white people who “ask for a safe place.” Later he goes on to explain an experience he had with Joe Baker and how he heard “somebody getting whipped,” (Haley 100). The hustle in Harlem is real and Malcolm had a first hand experience. He later on moved to lower down Harlem to the ghetto.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Malcolm is telling the truth and doing things from his point of view. And that Harlem's two or three are the most decorous nightspots.
DeleteI think that Malcolm X was clever when he exaggerated his way of not wanting to go to war, by acting like a crazy person he successfully got the lowest enlisted rank. Though Malcolm is still in Harlem, he is exposed to the Harlem world of gambling/betting, alcohol drinking, prostitutes, pickpockets, robberies, and selling drugs. Piece of evidence to show Malcolm faking his mental health for the army is, “suddenly, I sprang up and peeped under both doors, the one I’d entered and another probably was a closet. And then I bent and whispered fast in his ear, “Daddy-o, now you and me, we’re from up North here, so don’t you tell nobody. . . .I want to get sent down South. Organize them n-word soldiers, you dig? Steal us some guns, and kill us some crackers!” (110). Malcolm ended up scaring the man and he was sent home, then the next day he got a mail with a 4-F card. Malcolm also lived in an apartment where there were usually “hustle--boosters, numbers runners, or dope-peddlers--and I’d guess that everyone who lived in the house used dope of some kind” (94). This piece from text showed Malcolm being exposed to the nature of Harlem.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Malcolm exaggerated much about Detroit red. The reasons I believe this is because of the way Malcolm is introduced. Despite his maturity level and the life style he has he seems pretty innocent to want to lie about his surroundings. For example when they say monkey see monkey do I belive malcolm is only saying what he sees. Besides I don’t think there would be a malcolm x autobiography based on lies. Another reason I believe malcolm is telling the truth is because he doesn't just throw shade on his own town or people if not the police and I can relate becuase ive seen ghetto places were the police are corrupt for example. “I knew it had been detectives. I’d heard too many times how if they couldn’t find any evidence, they would plant some, where you would never find it, then they’d come back in and “find” it.” (Haley, 104). A final reason why I think Malcolm doesn't exaggerate is because he doesn't seem to add much detail if not he just stated that he noticed everyone in his surrounding are additc so he noticed a shot at making money buy selling drugs. For example "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals" (105)
ReplyDeleteMalcolm finds a job washing dishes on a Boston Washington train line and then selling sandwiches as a porter on a Boston-New York train line. He is dazzled by the wealth and energy of New York, especially Harlem's savory Ballroom and Apollo Theater. After being fired for taking the aggressive performances he uses to sell sandwiches too far, he is thrilled to work as a day waiter at a Harlem bar called Small's Paradise.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Malcolm did exaggerate his stories just a little. I think that he was in dangerous and sticky situations but I also believe he fails to recognize everything else happening outside of his own bubble. He only talks about what he was doing and who he himself have caught the attention of. I find truth underneath a little bit of fluff in every story, sure he made a lot of money, but not 60 dollars a day. Maybe he did carry a lot of ‘reefer sticks’ but I highly doubt in amounts of 50 or more, proven when he says, “I carried about fifty ticks in a small package inside my coat, under my armpit, keeping my arm flat against my side.” (104). Malcolm also acted as if everyone was watching him and wanting what he had. For example, on page 105 Malcolm explains, “They followed me and learned my pattern. They would dart out of a doorway,
ReplyDeleteI’d drop my stuff, and they would be on it like chicken on corn.” As if everyone in the town knew what he was doing and was after him for it.
I believe that Malcolm did exaggerate his involvement in crime. I think this because he starts talking about how he was pimping women and how he started to go and steal things from places and how he started going to the clubs and how he would use hard drugs. One places in the text that shows this is on (page 94) It says “ I learned more about women that i ever did in any other places”. This shows that Malcolm exaggerated his story because he was talking about how he would see women and how he got to learn about how they were. Another place in the text that shows how Malcolm exaggerated is (page 95), It says “Those women would tell me anything funny little stories about the bedroom differences they saw between white and black men.”
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DeleteWhile reading this chapter, I didn't second guess anything Malcolm said how he did his way of life for a while. I believe that Harlem was just the way he described it at that time, with selling reefers and marijuana to have a little extra cash. Malcolm includes so much apart of his relationships with people that it's hard to pick out what was real and what wasn't. I think the way he was just exaggerating when it came to certain stories could make you second guess the realness, "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instinct of animals, they followed me and learned my pattern," (105). He used exaggeration when talking about those people and that could give off some fake - ness. Malcolm also talks about how he got to hear some stories from the women he was pimping. "Those women would tell me anything funny little stories about the bedroom differences they saw between white and black me." I think that he really would have those conversations with those women, and that people didn't think he was being honest because they think about themselves when they read and they probably don't have conversations like that with other people but it doesn't mean Malcolm didn't.
ReplyDeleteI believe there was little to no exaggeration in the life Malcolm lived, or the story he's telling. I've seen or heard of some of the same exact things. Also, this was during a time where what's viewed as wrong nowadays was just normal everyday life back then. Such as dealing and doing drugs, and prostitution. "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instinct of animals, they followed me and learned my pattern," (105)A lot of the issues and circumstances Malcolm experienced are a lot of what happens nowadays just on a smaller scale, such as drug addicts, racism, dirty cops, and whatever else. “I knew it had been detectives. I’d heard too many times how if they couldn’t find any evidence, they would plant some, where you would never find it, then they’d come back in and “find” it.” (Haley, 104).
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ReplyDeleteOut of all things to happen in the chapter ‘Detroit Red’, I do not believe that Malcolm X actually went around the east coast to sell drugs, “I found that if you walked up and showed a railroad line’s employee identification card, the conductor-even a real cracker, if you approached him right, not begging-would just wave you aboard.” (Page 106) I believe that he just laid low until the heat cooled. He may have actually did this, but it doesn’t make any sense in his reasoning, as he had no one to sell the drugs to, other than traveling bands.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I don’t believe is that Malcolm X’s whole apartment was prostitutes. I do believe there were prostitutes, but I would think it’s a mix between both prostitutes and hustlers. “I was one of the very few males in this rooming house. This is during the war, when you couldn’t turn on the radio and hear not about Guadalcanal or North Africa. In several of the apartments the women tenants were prostitutes. The minority were in some other racket or hustle-boosters, numbers runners, or dope peddlers.” (Pg 94) His apartment on the 800 block of Harlem had a ton of prostitutes living there. I believe that there was some present from this quote, but not as drastic as he makes it sound.
Another thing to add, I do believe he did it to amplify the feeling.
DeleteI believe that Harlem was as dangerous as he described it as. "After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals" (105).I think that he did exaggerate his ghetto nature based on the fact that he was doing too much and trying to do more illegal things. Malcolm was starting with small things like smoking weed, but then he started selling drugs and getting into bad things he shouldn't have. He wanted to stand out and be the center of attention and that's why he thought he should. He saw the opportunity to sell because everyone would smoke and do drugs in Harlem. He became a pimp and started selling all these women. I feel like he over exaggerated some of the stories just because the way he made it seem it was but maybe i'm wrong based on the fact that he lived in a different time period than now. An example why I think he exaggerated was, “I don’t know now what my real thoughts were about carrying the pistol” (Haley 104). He is saying how he had the pistol but still thinks its not good for him to be carrying it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Harlem is as dangerous as Malcolm described him as, and that he wanted to be the center of attention and have everyone go to him for the drugs. And I feel like he carried the pistol for protection but he knew it was bad cause it would have been worse if he got caught.
DeleteI believe that Malcolm is telling the true story, but writing it in his own personal experiences. His story is easy to follow and flows good. Malcolm talked about how “Smalls was one of Harlem’s two or three most dangerous nightspots,” (Haley 93). An example that shows how Harlem was dangerous back then is when Malcolm says “I didn't last long down there, either. I lost too much of my product. After I sold to some of those reefer smokers who had the instincts of animals, they followed me and learned my pattern” (105). Another quote showing the dangers in Harlem is “Practically everyone played every day in poverty- ridden black ghetto of Harlem” (88)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on how he is telling his personal experiences, as it's more to represent his actions then the whole city of Harlem, he provides an light background to the city but doesn't grow into full detail of it.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that Malcolm did exaggerate his involvement in crime. I think this because he starts talking about how he was pimping women and how he started to go and steal things from places and how he started going to the clubs and how he would use hard drugs. One places in the text that shows this is on (page 94) It says “ I learned more about women that i ever did in any other places”. This shows that Malcolm exaggerated his story because he was talking about how he would see women and how he got to learn about how they were. Another place in the text that shows how Malcolm exaggerated is (page 95), It says “Those women would tell me anything funny little stories about the bedroom differences they saw between white and black men.”
In Chapter 6 I believe it is not exaggerated due to how this was during the time of a war, he describes all action the police are using like using spies and crackdowns. As detectives tried to crack down on mostly prostitution like described when he was caught “I’d never given the police any trouble, and when that black spy soldier tried to tip me, I waved it away.” (Page 100). He also shows the sort of “war” between the criminals and police when he was taken. He was also able to get marijuana very easy, probably because police made it an focus to crackdown on prostitution. As described by the hard action they acted on an pimp in the police precinct “I heard Joe Baker had gotten trapped over in New Jersey shaking down a Negro Pimp and his white prostitute.
ReplyDeleteI think that he did lie at times but I also feel as if he was telling the truth more than he was stretching it. The reason why I think this is because he sometimes doesn't put as much detail into his stories and just makes them seem like small events. But the reason why I think he doesn't completely lie is because most of the time he's putting a lot of detail into his stories and really gets into it. It does feel like sometimes he exaggerates with his information in his stories but what i think is what the reader doesn't know won’t hurt them so i'm sure he wanted the reader to really get into the story.
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