summary of chapter 3 and 4

The novel briefly returns to 1940, where Malcolm meets a fellow traveler, an African American coal miner named Earl Willis. He is taken aback, because Earl was his father's name. Malcolm recalls his father taking him to a meeting of black activists when he was five years old. His father led the meeting and told Malcolm, “One day you will preach and teach like I do” (45). On the bus, the driver makes a veiled threat, asking if Malcolm knows that “the road is a dangerous place for a lone little n----r” (47). Earl Willis claims Malcolm is his nephew, and the two sit together. Malcolm's mind drifts back to 1939. He is a straight-A student and president of his class at a predominantly white school. His teacher, Mr. Ostrowski, asks him what he would like to be when he grows up, and Malcolm says he would like to be a lawyer. Mr. Ostrowski responds that “That's no kind of realistic goal for a n----r” (51). He feels that his parents have lied to him about his prospects in life.

Malcolm recalls returning to the Little house from his foster home and witnessing his mother being forcibly taken into custody by social services, who declared her mentally ill and sent her to an institution in Kalamazoo. The oldest siblings, Wilfred and Hilda, are permitted to stay in the house, the others are put into foster care.