Coexistence vs Resistance 

While Booker T. Washington’s autobiography Up from Slavery is written to appeal to both white and black audiences, Malcolm X’s autobiography The Autobiography of Malcolm X is written solely for an African-American audience, making no attempt to appeal to white people. This is a result of the time period of each respective author, as during the time of BTW, African Americans could only progress by accommodating the demands of white people, as they did not have their own base to work off of. But during Malcolm X’s time period, African Americans had managed to form their own groups and communities, no longer needing the help of white people and thus gaining the ability to critique white people. Yet both African American men stood as examples for their people, and they shared a number of similarities, such as their pursuit of education. However, the means in which they reached their level of education and influence in their community differed, which also influenced the ideas they preached in their respective autobiographies.

One of the most striking differences between Up from Slavery and The Autobiography of Malcolm X is the depiction of the white man and his relationship to African Americans. BTW argues for the peaceful coexistence between the two races, while Malcolm X is not as optimistic. Famously, BTW says: 

To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are”-cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded (Booker T. Washington, 152-153). 

This quote shows how BTW viewed the two races as neighbors which need to work together in the same neighborhood. While he likely holds some grudges against white people, he overcomes them, which he views as the only way forward for African Americans, which is cooperation with their white neighbors. He argues that African Americans can become friends with the different races by using the skills they gained during slavery, which other races were not able to develop, thus necessitating cooperation. But Malcolm X is not as optimistic as to the relationship between the two races; he details atrocities committed by the white man (like the British in India and China) and refers to the white man as “the devil” (Malcolm X, 1871). To Malcolm, African Americans need to build their own future by rediscovering their neglected past and not selling themselves out to white people. He also argues for African Americans to take a more active role in fully gaining their rights, even if it involves violent tactics. Clearly, Malcolm X and BTW view the relationship between the two races quite differently, which can in part be attributed to the state of African Americans at the time of their writings. For Malcolm, he had an already established group (the Nation of Islam) to speak to without fear, while BTW was one of the first of his kind (an African American writer) which had to write mostly to a white audience to legitimize his cause.

Interestingly, the depiction of slavery differs greatly between BTW and Malcolm X, even though BTW lived through slavery. While BTW does detail the struggles he endured as a slave, he also frames the relationship between the slaves and their masters as one of cooperation, no doubt to sell his idea of encouraging African Americans to “cast down their buckets.” For example, BTW at one point lists off the many ways the slaves on his plantation cared for their masters, such as there being “many instances of Negroes tenderly caring for their former masters and mistresses who for some reason have become poor and dependent since the war” (Booker T. Washington, 9). Depicting this almost brotherlike cooperation between the ex-slaves and their former masters makes slavery seem much less hierarchal and cruel than it was. BTW likely did this to appeal to his white audience, a common theme throughout his autobiography. But Malcolm X makes no such effort; when detailing his time in prison, he recounts the first time he read about slavery’s “total horror,” which he describes as “the world’s most monstrous crime, the sin and the blood on the white man’s hands,” which he found “almost impossible to believe” due to the sheer horror of the history (Malcolm X, 1865). Compared to Malcolm X, BTW struck a much calmer tone, which is strange since he actually lived through slavery during his childhood. 

Despite their vast differences, these autobiographies do share some characteristics. For example, both enjoyed reading and learned how to do so in unconventional ways. BTW had to learn alongside his job at the salt business, while Malcom X taught himself how to read and write better while in jail. BTW describes how “from the time that [he could] remember having any thoughts about anything,” he had “an intense longing to learn to read” (Booker T. Washington, 18-19). Somewhat similarly, Malcolm X described his reading journey as one that began with frustration, for he was not able “to express what [he] wanted to convey in letter that [he] wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammed” (Malcolm X, 1862). Both men viewed reading as a gateway into a new and unfamiliar world, one of which they had to get themselves to. With regards to the way they did so, BTW ended up having to take some night lessons while also reading on his own, while Malcolm X read a dictionary in prison which allowed him to read a variety of other books while at prison. Both had to take initiative to learn how to read, and yet with their knowledge gained from reading, they took different tactics to fight for the rights of African Americans.