Spike Lee’s ‘X’ Seen as a History Lesson for Blacks and Whites

“Malcolm X” recounts the life of the black nationalist from childhood to his role as a spokesman for the separatist Nation of Islam, eventual disillusionment with the sect and subsequent assassination. (Rated PG-13)

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Eleven-year-old Jeremy likes all Spike Lee movies. “I think he’s a good director, personally. I’ve seen them all: ‘Do the Right Thing.’ ‘Mo Better Blues.’ ‘Jungle Fever.’ ” But he says the 3 1/2-hour “Malcolm X” tops them all.

“He’s emphasizing something that really happened, not something else,” he said after seeing the show in Irvine. He knows not all 11-year-olds share his taste but said he was fascinated by Malcolm’s personal transformations: “He was a pimp and, like, a drug dealer when he was younger, and he changed to a civil rights leader.”

Jeremy, who is white, respects the leader and wore a Malcolm X cap he got at South Coast Plaza. “I liked the fact that Malcolm X was a fighter and he was religious and he wanted the freedom of his country, you know. If he did something, it wasn’t because someone else did it.

“At that time, black people were treated badly, and I think he wanted to do something for his culture, not just himself.”

Jeremy liked the film so much he wants to take his girlfriend to see it next week.

Director Lee told Time magazine he intended the movie to be a history lesson for children, both black and white, because so few of them read any more.

One black mother said public schools are also teaching her children less about black history than she learned herself at school. She took her daughter, Shavione, and her son’s girlfriend, Naissa.

Shavione, 13, was impressed by the scenes of racial incidents such as white police turning fire hoses on blacks and by Malcolm’s preaching. “It seemed like the truth,” she said.

“Do you think some kids might get the message they shouldn’t have friends from another race?” I asked.

“Maybe,” she said. “In the movie, he said that white people are white devils. They might start to hate white people.”

Her mother broke in: “That was in the beginning, Shavione, before he started speaking for himself. That was what he was taught from Elijah. After he went around the country and met other people who were different colors and believed in the same God, then he found out it wasn’t true.”

Shavione and Naissa believe that some parts of the country are more racist than others. “If you grow up around a lot of different races, you won’t come up against it,” Shavione says. “In a place like Irvine, where people tell you to grow up with people of your own color, it’s different than places where you grow up with lots of different people.”

The children thought that despite the violence, the movie held positive messages for children regarding racial pride and harmony.

“It teaches you to be proud of who you are, no matter what color you are, and love all people,” said Naissa, 15. “But I think the idea that you have to unite in your own race first before you can integrate is right too.”