Comparing Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

Comparing Malcolm X and Martin Luther King

During the twentieth century Black people faced a huge amount of discrimination from the whites and found it very difficult to achieve civil rights. They were at one stage deprived of voting, being entitled the same things as blacks and going to a white school. In order for blacks to achieve civil rights they really needed someone to follow, they needed a leader. Many black leaders did emerge for the fight for civil rights, such as, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, some had some ways of thinking some had others. Two of the most powerful and influential leaders of the twentieth century were Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. These two leaders had different approaches, and different views towards white people, perhaps their different approaches of violence and non-violence stem from their original opinions of how capable the whites are of being "good", but fought for the same thing. Freedom.

These great leaders came from vastly different backgrounds which is shown in their thinking on life, especially early on. Martin was a Christian from the rural south, whilst Malcolm had become a Muslim from the urban north. King called for love of your neighbor, integration and nonviolence, which was part of his American Dream. Malcolm X called for self-love, separation, and "by any means necessary", which was part of his Black Nationalism. Throughout their lives their views were constantly changing, largely affected by each other, but also by the many events in their lives. Malcolm X forced King to become more radical and to look into the problems of the urban north. King made X become more politically active and work much more with the Civil Rights Movement. Although many have often said that they were "like oil and water", these two men, however different they may have seemed to be, had the same goal. They wanted to end exploitation, discrimination and racism. Also, for both, religion was primary in defining their lives and ideals. There are two distinct phases in their political lives. For King, the change in his outlook came when he looked at the social problems of the urban slums, and the extent of racism of his previous allies. This turning point came with the riots in Watts, Los Angeles. For Malcolm X, the major change came when he broke from the Nation of Islam and went on his trip to Mec...

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...ithin the white communities. This is important because it shows that it is possible for whites and blacks to work together for a single cause. It leaves hope that maybe one day, all traces of racism can disappear and leave behind a united society in which everyone can work together for the good of the country.

So overall Martin Luther King was much more educated then Malcolm X. He had seen life the easy way compared to Malcolm. Martin Luther King hadn’t been through what Malcolm had been through, while Malcolm x was busy being a criminal, Martin Luther King was busy doing his Ph.D. Malcolm X spent about ten years of his life in jail, which in that time he learned to hate the white man, his belief towards whites was they were ‘blue-eyed devils’. I think towards the end King became more radical because he became more critical of the government, mainly because King had seen laws being passed and civil rights being achieved politically but still socially he felt that black people hadn’t achieved civil rights. The case for Malcolm X is not however the same, while his journey to Mecca Malcolm finds out there are white Muslims, therefor discover that not all white people are devils.