Martin Luther King Jr And Mal Essay

, Research Paper

Tina Nelson

Martin Luther King. Jr. and. Malcolm X

The Civil Rights Movement brought about many different views on how one s rights should be achieved in America. There is a whole spectrum that ranges from violence to non-violent action in which the views are place. There were two very strong Black American leaders, Martin Luther King.Jr and Malcolm X, who agreed that everyone deserves equal rights, but they did not agree on the strategy of that should be used to gain them.

Malcolm X proved to be the greatest symbol of the Black Power. His outlook on life was made public in a speech. He predicted The end of Whitism white supremacy, the end of civil white man s rule (868). This was what he preached in front of the Nation of Islam (NOI). This religious group was self-reliant, highly disciplined and proud community [people]- a separate nation (868).

He was a very influential man whose greatest supporters were the Urban African Americans. He told these people to have pride in their African heritage. Malcolm felt that Black Americans should not give up their heritage in order to fight in the American Society and gain their equal rights and equal opportunity. Malcolm X stressed that integration to blacks meant changing their ways. Stokely Carmichael once stated, the goal of integration has been based on complete acceptance of the fact that in order to have a decent house or education, blacks must move into a white neighborhood or send their children to a white school. (29-4). African American wants into accepted in to society, but not by leaving their Blackness behind them.

Malcolm X also admitted that he was an extremist. The Blacks race here in the North America is in extremely bad condition. You show me a black man who isn t an extremist. (572). Although he did not preach a strict violent approach, but he did conveyed it though his speeches.

Malcolm X abandoned his black separatist views and moved toward those of a Socialist nature, who dreamed of radical social change. Malcolm X wanted unity within the Blacks and White society to emerge fast. He knew the United States Constitution guarantees equal rights for everyone, and if the government does not give black people their rights then they will just have to take them. Malcolm X promised a world without racism and segregation.

Martin Luther King, Jr., on the other hand believed strongly in a nonviolent campaign and he had four basic steps .1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purificatio; 4) direct action. King used these steps in Birmingham, Alabama (28-5). The campaign was planned out carefully, but hundreds of demonstrators, including King were jailed. After King got out of jail the protest worsened. The SCLC agreed to an immediate end to the protests. In exchange, businesses would desegregate and begin hiring Africa Americans over the next three-months. That was a great step in this segregate city. King claimed, The most magnificent victory for justice we have ever seen in the Deep South. (863). The speech that King made at Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama stressed his nonviolent movement. The key principles that King stood by were Christian love and unity. He also stated that the black race has moral courage to stand up for their rights as American.

In early 1957, King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. (SCLC). This organization called upon black people to understand that nonviolence is not a symbol of weakness or cowardice, but as Jesus demonstrated nonviolent resistance transforms weakness into strength and breeds courage in the face of danger (857). The SCLC gained support among black ministers, and King vigorously spread his message in speeches and in writing, but the organization failed to spark the kind of mass, direct-action movement that made history in Montgomery (857). When people who thought he was an extremist confronted Martin Luther King, Jr. he responded by saying, the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremist for hate or for love? Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or the cause of justice? (28-5). As he claimed to be a nonviolent leader, some people thought that he was not.

As King preached nonviolence he could not separate racism and war. In 1967, he said, I cannot speak about the great themes of violence and nonviolence, of social change and hope for the future, without reflecting on the tremendous violence on Vietnam (29-5). King was waiting for the tragedy to end. His outlook on Vietnam proved he was a leader of nonviolence.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. took different views on how blacks or other minorities should acquire their rights. Unlike Malcolm X, King does not incite his followers to riot and hate, but encourages his followers to remember that all people are God s children and that hopefully one day all American can join together to sing My country tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sang These two leaders did not agree, but they were fighting to accomplish the same thing. Even though they were different in addressing their messages about black respect and pride, they both had the same goal in mind. That goal was to achieve equality between all races. They both had important role in the civil rights movement.