Malcolm X

I've found it difficult to read this book and I believe it is because I am so engrained in Dr. King's teachings that to accept anything of the contrary is hard. I so far don't agree with what Malcolm is saying. When reading his background I couldn't understand why he was so against whites when he had special treatment from his father for being light skinned. I understand that his father was believed to be killed by white supremists but at the same time I believe that not all white people were inherently evil. I think that some generations simply followed in what their parents taught them. People are not born racist they are made racist whether it be by their environment or by what they are told. Malcolm got involved in a bad lifestyle and blamed all his misfortunes on white people saying that they made the ghettos but I do not believe that that is true. I think that Malcolm holds a lot of pent up aggression and I don't believe that it is all justified.
A problem I have always had with activists like Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, or Dr. King is that I never understood what gave them the right to define a black person. What gave them the right to tell blacks how to live their lives? This is not a sign of disrespect or criticism on them. I personally have never been a follower and for me to have to listen to someone telling me to go back to Africa or fight nonviolent isn't something that I'm going to eagerly do because I don't understand what entitles them to say these things.