2 – Malcolm Spent His Teenage Years in Foster Care
Malcolm had no idea what a ‘settled’ home was in his youth and teenage years. Although he was born in Nebraska, his family moved to Wisconsin and Michigan in quick succession. After Earl died, Louise Little began to unravel as the strain of losing her husband and trying to take care of the children on a shoestring budget proved too much. After one of the insurance companies refused to pay out on Earl’s policy, the entire family had to take on different odd jobs.
Louise was initially able to get household work and sewing jobs because of her light complexion. Sadly, her employers fired her once they ‘discovered’ she was black. The family’s finances were in tatters and Louise had to purchase necessities on credit and eventually had to go on welfare because she couldn’t find a job. Louise’s mind started to break down due to the undeniable stress she was under and she began to lose control of the kids.
At this point, Malcolm had begun to steal food for the family and was occasionally caught in the act. Welfare agents suggested sending him to a foster home but Louise responded by whipping Malcolm in a frantic attempt to keep him in line. It didn’t work and Malcolm was sent to live with a foster family. Soon after, Louise was sent to a mental hospital and Malcolm later blamed the white authorities for their role in ruining his mother’s life. Although he was treated reasonably well in the detention home he lived in, they treated him as a pet. Malcolm later wrote that whites in America did not think of blacks as human beings and would only accept them if they were willing to be treated as inferiors.
Malcolm had to attend a high school that was almost entirely white and although he was one of the brightest students in his classes, teachers told him that blacks should not have lofty aspirations. The complete lack of support from the teachers at the school in Lansing forced Malcolm to leave when he was just 15 years of age. He moved to Boston to live with his half-sister, Ella Little-Collins, and never returned to school. Ella was part of Boston black society’s upper class and was dismayed when Malcolm did not transition into a respectable life. He believed that the blacks of this area were guilty of mimicking white society’s habit of identifying social status by occupation.