Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are two of the significant figures in the modern civil rights movement. The reason I say “modern” is because civil rights acts were still practiced. For example in the 19th century there was the Plessy versus Ferguson which meant separate but equal and although this wasn't a successful wave there had to be consideration towards the problem of white supremacists and African Americans in order to even stage a judicial ruling. In the early 20th century Ida B. Wells who was a radical writes about “violence in the south, trying to get the federal government involved.” Professor Carrie Pitzulo, Class Lecture, 24 Jan 2017, US History 151, Colorado State University. Booker T. Washington also thought working with …show more content…
was born. He grew up in a middle class family who was religious and was able to gain a higher education than most African Americans. He studied Philosophy and earned a Ph.D. at Boston University. “1954, at age twenty-six, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama.” Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s a Brief History with Documents. Boston, Mass.: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print. This is a great example of why King believed in peaceful protest. Being very active in social gospel, King was able to advocate nonviolent movements. King was also inspired by Gandhi who is universally known for being the strongest symbol in nonviolence. In the same year King was announced the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and led the bus boycott. The boycott ended up to be a success a year later when the supreme court ruled in favor of African Americans. Although King was subjected to violence he never could get away from it. In mid 20th century his house and his brother’s houses were bombed, and in 1956, 1960, and 1963, he was arrested. He was also forced to be under surveillance in his own home. Despite these horrid acts he continued to tell his supporters to remain peaceful. Martin Luther King Jr. led marches, sit ins, speeches, and created a sense of black unity. He risked his life because he knew his …show more content…
Malcolm X’s is also a well known civil rights activist but instead of using nonviolence he promoted fighting fire with fire. Based on the way Malcolm X grew up we can understand why he is more aggressive than Martin Luther King Jr. By age three Malcolm X’s house was burned down, at age six his father was killed and by the age of 14 his mother was sent to a state mental hospital in Michigan. The amount of confusion and anger built up in this little boy's mind is unimaginable. One thing his family did do while being apart of his life is “instilled in him an internationalist racial consciousness, and sharp awareness of white racism.” Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s a Brief History with Documents. Boston, Mass.: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print. Much like MLK Malcolm got involved religiously and by 1947 he starts his conversion to the NOI, Nation of Islam. Pitney also states that “Malcolm’s desire to serve Muhammad's nation was the motivating force behind his drive for self-education and reformation.” Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s a Brief History with Documents. Boston, Mass.: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. Print. Malcolm hated the white community. He didn't find it possible to forgive a race that could do such harmful things to people. He grew up around violence, he
The Civil Rights movement was a movement against racial segregation and discrimination in the southern States that became nationally recognized in the middle of the 1950s. Though American slaves were given basic civil rights through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of the Constitution, African Americans still had a hard time trying to get federal protection of their newly found rights. A man by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the American Civil rights Leaders who used nonviolence in order to reach a social change. He used nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice against African Americans like segregation laws. He wasn’t just fighting for the equality of all African American but was also fighting for the equality of all men and women. Malcolm X is another great leader who fought for what he believed in. He was a black activist who, unlike King, promoted a little violence. Malcolm X wanted the nation (African Americans) to become more active in the civil rights protests. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. had different methods for gaining civil rights. I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. method was more effective thanMalcolm X methods. In King “’Letter from Birmingham Jail” King defends himself on writing about why he is using nonviolent resistance to racism. Throughout the letter he shows his reasoning using logic, emotion, and ethics. Throughout his life King used this same method to reach how to hundred of thousands of African Americans.
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were both African American civil rights leaders wanting to bring freedom to black people during the 1960s. Even though both leaders wanted to liberate black people; their philosophies were drastically different. Malcolm X was wanted racial separation, while Martin Luther King wanted to both races to coexist. Religion is also a major part of this situation because most African Americans including MLK in America were Christian while Malcolm X’s goal was to turn all people who follow his path to convert into Muslims. Martin Luther King’s philosophy would’ve made more sense to 1960s America because most people who wanted freedom in society would rather consider coexisting than more racial
On the other hand, Malcolm X believed in the utilization of any denotes indispensable to reach his goals. The one area is the kindred attributes between the two. In fact, one could verbalize that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were consummate antitheses. Martin Luther King was able to enlighten the world an edification. He showed us that goals can be reached without violence. Although , Malcolm X may have reached his goals, but he engendered nonessential violence along the way.. You may argue that even though Martin Luther King’s protests were halcyon, violence still occurred. The difference in my opinion is that the Hangings and attacks that African Americans faced were out of their control. It was the decision of those that they were protesting against to bellicosity beat them and kill them. Malcolm X on the other hand was many times the initiator of violence. He brought violence to his protests and ergo engendered extra violence, which can be deemed to be nonessential. At the terminus of the day many would favor of the lessons which Martin Luther King Jr uplifted as his decisions and outcomes can influence the decisions of future generations in times of conflict. Malcolm X’s conception of doing anything to reach his goals is not a good representation for future generations as it remotely
...le could use simple nonviolent protests and still have great outcomes. If you compare Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, King has more peoples respect and achieved a lot more than X did. During King Life he achieved what many world leaders can not achieve today, such as using nonviolence to overcome suffrage against social injustice. No matter how bad a situation was King always believed in nonviolence which lead him to victory in several situations, and also winning the publics respect. If u compare today?s world to yesterday?s world, you can see the similarities, in what King was fighting for and today?s struggles.? Remember him as a man who tried to be a drum major for justice, a drum major for peace, a drum major for righteousness. Remember him as a man who refused to lose faith in the ultimate redemption of mankind.? The Trumpet of Conscience, Coretta Scott King.
The Civil Rights Movement symbolized the challenge and opposition to the racial injustices and segregation that had been engrained in American society for hundreds of years. Events that took place in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, sit-ins, speeches and numerous protests define this momentous time in United States history. Speeches during this period served as a means to inspire and assemble a specific group of people, for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X it was the black community that needed to rise up in hopes of achieving equal rights and voting rights for the blacks.
Malcolm X never wanted the black people to integrate with the white folks. He aggressively pushed the idea for black people to just leave the oppressed lands back to Africa. Malcolm strongly stated that:
Malcolm X was particularly firm in his opinions of the nonviolent strategies advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr. During a November 1963 address, Malcolm ridiculed the theory that African Americans could achieve their freedom nonviolently. "The only revolution in which the goa...
Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. First ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most important events of the history of the United States. Although many people contributed to this movement, Martin Luther King, Jr., is widely regarded as the leader of the movement for racial equality. Growing up in the Deep South, King saw the injustices of segregation first hand. King’s studies of Mahatma Ghandi teachings influenced his views on effective ways of protesting and achieving equality. Martin Luther King’s view on nonviolence and equality and his enormous effect on the citizens of America makes him the most influential person of the twentieth century.
Dr. King was born the son of Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr, a devout Christian who would raise his son to be so as well. Dr. King skipped ninth and twelfth grade and went on to Morehouse College at the age of fifteen. He graduated in 1948 with a B. A. degree in Sociology. He then went on to attend Crozer Theological Seminary and received his B. Div. degree in 1951. In 1953, he married Coretta Scott and in 1955 he graduated Boston University with a Ph. D. in Systematic Theology. By this point in his life, he was also the pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
African Americans are fortunate to have leaders who fought for a difference in Black America. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are two powerful men in particular who brought hope to blacks in the United States. Both preached the same message about Blacks having power and strength in the midst of all the hatred that surrounded them. Even though they shared the same dream of equality for their people, the tactics they implied to make these dreams a reality were very different. The background, environment and philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were largely responsible for the distinctly varying responses to American racism.
...3,12 Howard-Pitney, David, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004,125.3 "Freedom Riders." American Experience. PBS. (2010) Week 7 Documents, Oregon State University, Department of History, Corvallis, OR HST 203.
The 20th century was a definitive time period for the Black civil rights movement. An era where the status quo was blatant hatred and oppression of African Americans, a time when a black son would watch his father suffer the indignity of being called a “boy” by a young white kid and say nothing in reply but “yes sir”. Where a Black person can be whipped or lynched for anything as little as not getting off the sidewalk when approaching a white person, for looking into their eyes, or worse, “for committing the unpardonable crime of attempting to vote.” In the midst of the racial crises and fight for social equality were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. who despite their difference in philosophies were “icons of social justice movement both in the United States and around the world” .
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were very significant during the Civil Rights Movement. Both were excellent speakers and shared one goal but had two different ways of resolving it. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to resolve the issues by using non-violence to create equality amongst all races to accomplish the goal. Malcolm X also wanted to decrease discrimination and get of segregation but by using another tactic to successfully accomplish the similar goal. The backgrounds of both men were one of the main driven forces behind the ways they executed their plans to rise above the various mistreatments. Martin Luther King Jr. was a more pronounced orator, a more refined leader, and overall saw the larger picture than Malcolm X.
Malcolm X or Malcolm Little and also known as “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz”, was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist. He had a hard child a young adult life. His admirers he was a courageous speaking for the rights of blacks, a man who accuses white America in the meanest terms for their crimes against black Americans; critics accused him of preaching racism and violence. “He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history along with martin luther king jr.” based on some of the things malcolm has done, Martin luther king jr. definitely had a different way of approaching issues. with both of their totally different way of getting their point across, discussion could be made on who was more effective in the civil rights movement as a whole. If Malcolm x wasn't around and fighting for civil right around the same time as MLK was doing it here he probably would of had much of a chance and would have just been killed, he in a way motivated the whole world into fighting for civil rights in their country, without his “black power” philosophy. he was easily in the top five people that got the civil right movement to follows it course and end up get equality for black and white.