Malcolm X's Boy Scout Posse

By Any Means Necessary

Malcolm X was an extremely controversial social justice advocate in the 1960s. His stance on equality and fair treatment in America is easily shown in his The Ballot Or The Bullet speech. In it, he clearly tells black individuals in America to stop considering themselves as citizens and stand up for the rights that had been taken away from them, either through democracy or through force. His stance of violent protesting was controversial due to his nonviolent counterpart, Martin Luther King Jr. He didn't care about differences in religion or other things such as that, saying "I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem". He didn't care about things that made people different when he gave that speech, so long as the goal was equality. The Boy Scouts suffer a similar problem.

One good looking Eagle Scout right there

The anti-gay/anti-atheist stance of the Boy Scouts of America has a deep impact on myself, partly because I'm an Eagle Scout, partly because I'm an atheist. I have several friends who are both Eagle Scouts and homosexual or atheist. We are unable to talk about these things in public due to the risks we face and the jeopardy it would put us in. The Boy Scouts tend to go with a "don't ask don't tell" sort of policy at the national level, but many times communities can focus heavily on religious, and therefore anti-homosexual, doctrines. While it is legal for the Boy Scouts to choose who is allowed to participate in it's organization, the question stands as to whether or not they have chosen the fair outcome. The opposition for their stance is heavy as well.

Scouting has a deep history

The Boy Scouts have chosen a rough path to go down, losing support from many large scale donors in the process such as UPS, while companies such as Verizon are being urged to do the same. With all this, you would think the Boy Scouts would be willing to come to the tables and change their policy. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. The nonviolent forms of persuasion have failed as the Boy Scouts continue to deny many scouts the chances of becoming Eagle Scouts due to sexuality or religious reasons. It has become a problem forcing many young men to lie about their beliefs to earn a rank they deserve. If the Boy Scouts really believes strongly in the morals they stand for they should realize that someone can be a great person while being gay or atheist. Petitions have been created and demonstrations have been held, but still nothing. So what would Malcolm X do?

I don't remember that badge being required for Eagle...

Malcolm X sure wasn't a Boy Scout, exemplified by his violent tactics. The Boy Scouts are extremely nonviolent, but maybe that makes it a perfect opportunity to put in place the statutes Malcolm X fought for. Equality for all using any means necessary. Should Boy Scouts use Walzer's approach and get their hands dirty to do what is right? Would creating a violent revolution within the Boy Scouts structure be able to hold any ground against the bureaucracy of the organization? Naturally questions arise when considering who would be subject to the violence, but it would no doubt be un-scout-like behavior directed at leaders who support or uphold these policies. As MLK Jr. would say, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
We must deal with this problem by any means necessary.