A Double-Bind

Max Whelan

Through his life, Malcolm X (1925-1965) experienced the feeling of a "double-bind". The double-bind was a term formulated by the Post-Civil War black rights activist W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963). It described the two separate roles blacks played in American society, one being a hard working American contributing to the community, and the other being an individual who had to use separate facilities and was forced to know their place in society. In essence, the double-bind served as a form of power exerted by whites over blacks through manipulation and control, which left blacks in a constant state of doubt and lack of self-confidence. The theory of the double-bind presaged many struggles in Malcolm X's life. One notable instance in which Malcolm was caught in a double-bind occurred when he was an eighth grade student and told his teacher that he wished to become a lawyer. "Somehow, I happened to be alone in the classroom with Mr. Ostrowski, my English teacher. I had gotten some of the best marks under him, and he had always made me feel as though he liked me. He was, as I have mentioned, a 'natural-born advisor'. He told me, 'Malcolm, you ought to be thinking about a career. Have you given it any thought?' The truth is, I hadn't.

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