X MARKS THE SPIN

Some ignore and deny history. Other re-write it.

One of the most divisive, frightening men in 20th Century America was Malcolm X. His name should be spoken with the same disgust as his contemporaries from back then, including the American Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell.

Yes, the spin doctors can point to his oh-so-clever name. He told the world that he was denying his "slave name" so he was just X. This influenced who, exactly? The brats who later became "Generation X" because they weren't given a big enough allowance from Mommy and Daddy?

Malcolm X was pissed off mostly because he wasn't getting a free ride just for being black. The Indians (later to be called Native Americans) calmly accepted life on the reservation, and minor concessions (and eventually the chance to own and operate gambling casinos). The blacks? "You OWE us, man! You're WHITE. Even if your people didn't arrive in America till after the days of slavery, YOU OWE US, MAN!!!!!!!"

And so a nasty racist has his own "Malcolm X Boulevard" in Harlem, and people are treating his memory with awe, and his relatives can get a chunk of money for giving a speech about him. He's a hero.

IF I'M BEING HONEST, he was one scary bastard, and his rhetoric was violence and his demeanor pure hate. When Muhammad Ali became a Muslim, people were very upset because they knew the BLACK MUSLIMS to be a sinister tribe of religious fanatics. At the core was their racism. Where did the term "Whitey" come from, and "White Devil" and all the hateful references to the "Blue Eyes" tribe and the rest of it?

Malcolm X, like today's ISIS maniacs, sold the line that HIS race was the pure one, and it was ok to be just as nasty as some redneck using the word "Nigger." He was not Dr. Martin Luther King. He was also a lot like today's rappers. He embraced violence until, like Tupac, and Biggie, HE got killed.

It's so easy to spin a Malcolm X or a Che Guevara into a hero. Put him on a t-shirt and see everyone salute. As long as they aren't white (like George Lincoln Rockwell) they're somehow noble in their bigotry, stupidity and hate. The 50th Anniversary of Malcolm X. Oh joy to the world. A regular Jesus, that guy.

The Black Muslims didn't use the word jihad back then, and today they aren't a factor, but back then, Malcolm X's message was pretty much jihad against Whitey. It was fortunate that his death, like Bin Laden's, fractured his particular group of lunatics. Praising him now, and re-writing history, only encourages people to think that his hateful speeches and calls for violence are a proper way of action. It's sure the way ISIS and that bunch operate. Intimidate, shout religious babble, and watch the poor and the stupid come running for a way to channel their violence and find acceptance.

Most of us had no problem with Muhammad Ali being a Muslim then, or now, and don't feel uncomfortable with any of the other sports figures who followed him and adopted a new Muslim first name, or an entire Muslim name. We know these people are NOT followers of Malcolm X.

Ali was a hero. Still is. And yes, this is glossing over a lot of questionable things he did. One thing he DIDN'T do, was surround himself with surly, sullen, murderous gangs and ask for the end of Whitey Blue-Eyes.

At worst, Ali would tell some white reporter, "You ain't as dumb as you look." He was usually telling the truth.