Malcolm X was previously known as Malcolm Little, a typical young boy who wanted to fulfill his dreams to succeed in life and become a lawyer. However, racism impeded him from becoming whom he yearned to be. As Malcolm enthusiastically informed his teacher he aspired to become a thriving lawyer, the teacher crushed his dreams by exclaiming, "Malcolm, one of life's first needs is for us to be realistic... But you've got to be realistic about being a nigger. A lawyer- that's no realistic goal for a nigger. You need to think about something you can be" (Haley, 1964, p. 43). This was one of Malcolm's first personal encounters with racism which lead to many more through out his journey to achieve. Malcolm rose above and beyond the expectations his peers had about him and conquered all obstacles placed in his way by society to become one of the most controversial and influential black rights leaders in American History.
Malcolm grew up in the 1920's to the 1960's where racism was unfortunately a common occurrence. The blacks considered Booker T. Washington to be "Uncle Tom." …
