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Smh how can a black American support Mao over the Tibebetan slave owners?
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
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chapotraphouse
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I don't think it's that wild. In middle school I was taught that Malcolm X was evil and making things worse for black people because he wasn't peaceful and civil like MLK. That's total and complete bullshit, as I've come to learn, but that's the amerikkkan education system for you
Yeah, I heard the same thing. We also had a history textbook that declared the 'most oppressive states in the world' were Vietnam and Laos.
EDIT: Later editions of the book added Afghanistan, and then Iraq, to the list of oppressive states.
I remember when we received the 'updated' versions and that was literally all that was changed
It was something along the lines of "the evil violent northern commies tried to disrupt the peaceful democratic south by attacking American ships and invading". Also a bunch of pro-colonialist propaganda. It was used in a lot of schools in America. Luna Oi actually reviewed the book, and I had forgotten how bad it was until she did. I can't seem to find the video on her channel, though.
I mean, that's the truth of what happened, obviously, but the curriculum was still pushing the narrative that the Vietnamese people were the aggressors. I should note that this was back in 2001-2004 before the sanctions against Vietnam were lifted.
I want to say there was a recent-ish (maybe mid-00s) acknoedgement by the U.S. that the original story of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a complete fabrication. It basically went:
Note that if you believed the truth at any point up until the final revelation you would have been called some crazy conspiracy theorist and asked why you hate America.
Was given his biographical book to read in high school. To my rural conservative upbringing he certainly did seem "extreme" and he was "wrong" to hate white people and call them devils, but I couldn't help but feel if I was in his shoes, and saw what he saw, and how he was treated - I would hate white people too. I wouldn't want to be "civil" either. And I might even want to use violence. And so, it was another step on my leftward journey.
It is kind of fascinating how Malcolm X is used as an example of "what not to do" by the US education system, while MLK has been completely whitewashed.
Of coure, while MLK was alive, he was constantly accused of inciting violence and being a horrible person too, and wishing for "white genocide" just as much as they accused Malcolm X of wanting the same.
One thing that's interesting to note (at least for me) is that Malcolm X became much softer and more inclusive later in life while MLK seemed to have become more hardened and cynical with age.