West and Torgovnick: Manichean Ideologies
             Both Cornel West and Marianna De Marco Torgovnick
             discuss the idea of supremacy, Manichean theologies, and
             authoritarian behavior in their essays. However, they deal
             with these ideas differently and for different reasons. In
             West's essay, "Malcolm X and Black Rage", he explains Mal¬
             colm X's views on how to transfer black rage in such a way
             that it would reject supremacy. In Torgovnick's essay, "On
             Being White, Female, and Born in Bensonhurst", she writes
             how her hometown held supremacist ideas and how this af¬
             fected her. West is still pursuing the goal of black free¬
             dom by looking into the past, especially Malcolm X's writ¬
             ings. Whereas, Torgovnick kind of runs away from things and
             refers to living in Bensonhurst as having "simultaneously
             choking and nutritive power. This difference is mainly due
             because West wants to try to make things better, while
             Torgovnick leaves her hometown feeling that she needs to
             Torgovnick writes about supremacist ideas in her cul¬
             tural background. For example, she says, "Italian Americans
             in Bensonhurst are notable for their cohesiveness and pro¬
             vinciality; the slightest pressure turns those qualities
             into prejudice and racism" (Torgovnick 123). In other words
             there is a lot of racism and prejudice, especially towards
             blacks, in Bensonhurst. Torgovnick's father also held
             supremacist ideas. Her father reacted with indifference to
             the death of a black man in Bensonhurst. As Torgovnick
             " 'Oh, no,' my father says when he hears the news
             about the shooting...He has no trouble acknowledging
             the wrongness of the death...The explanation is right
             before him but, 'Yeah,' he says, still shaking his
             head, 'yeah, but what were they doing there"
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