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Martin luther king jr role in the civil rights movement
Martin luther king jr role in the civil rights movement
Martin luther king jr role in the civil rights movement
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Each speaker, Martin Luther King Jr, Stokely Carmichael, and Malcolm X, has different opinions and practices on the matter of Human Rights or in others terms, black power. Dr. King is precise in demonstrating non-violence and peaceful protests. Carmichael, after seeing the personal way many white officers and those against him were, as well as what they did to those like him, he did not necessarily advocate violence, but said it was sometimes essential in terms of self-defense. Malcolm X was one of the polar opposite characters. In my eyes and through my readings, Malcolm X incited violence and persuaded the black people that followed him to “hate the white man”. Unlike Dr. King and somewhat Carmichael, Malcolm did not preach peace, but by any means to get their way, which was usually violence. Through their speeches and demonstrations, each establishes rhetorical devices in their works that helps to take effect in the minds of those who listen. Each speaker has well diction and use of words, but it is with what they do with those words that count. All three speakers have similar tones when speaking; …show more content…
An example of pathos would be when Carmichael said, “I knew that I could vote and that that wasn't a privilege; it was my right. Every time I tried I was shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived.” At this point, Carmichael is referring to civil rights bills being passed that tell white people that black people can vote and live where they want, because the black people already knew they could, it were the white people who needed to know that. Repetition of words is also used to add emphasis and direct attention to that certain area in his speech, “We have 94 percent who still live in shacks. We are going to be concerned about those 94 percent. You ought to be concerned about them too. The question is, Are we willing to be concerned about those 94
Ever since slavery black people have been fighting for their freedom time after time and many different activists had different ways of expressing themselves to get their point across. But in the mid 1960s Stokely Carmichael had his own way of pushing freedom in the black community. He gave more awareness to the words “Black Power” as he was the leader of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) but soon changed his approach once he saw nonviolent protesters were being brutalized in the South. He had a speech at the university of California in 1966 where he addressed this issue of freedom in the black community in which he challenged the “civil rights leadership by rejecting integration and calling on blacks to oust whites from the freedom movement.” Because of Stokely Carmichael the freedom movement for blacks was heightened and was taken more seriously by whites and by other blacks and is also a main reason for blacks having the freedom we do today.
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
They both seem to share the thought that they only way to gain freedom as a slave is to show you will do anything to receive that freedom, but they also shared some different views. In “Liberty, Equality, Power” “When Dr. King rushed to the scene, preaching politics of nonviolence local activists ignored or even ridiculed him” (Murrin 998) and Malcolm X “oftentimes criticized Dr. King’s gradual, nonviolent approach” (Murrin 1000) was a different approach on King’s role in segregation. In Murrin’s text he was portrayed as weak for believing that desegregation would happen with nonviolence. Everyone that was battling to receive freedom seemed to think otherwise that violence was in fact key. This changes the reader’s view on King and how he was not really portrayed as most people know him to be “a hero” for all African Americans. It seems that Murrin believes that Malcolm X made more of a change for African American’s and connected more with them than King
In the century where African-Americans had no rights and were highly discriminated, two men set out to make a new lifestyle for each other. Those two men where Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. Frederick Douglass was a slave when he began to learn to read. Malcolm X was in prison when he began to learn how to read, he was in prison because he was an activist civil right. Both of this men have a great influence to the changes made for African-American rights. Both of this men have similarities and differences. Some of the similarities are why they wanted to learn, and their background. The differences are in the way that they learned to read and write and at what time they learned to read and write. Although both men have similarities they
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...
Malcolm x was one of the great civil rights leaders during the 1960’s. He spoke for self-sufficiency and rights for all and believed; “I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against.” (Malcolm X). Malcolm X was at a great disadvantage all through his life. He was treated badly by the white population in Lansing, Michigan; his family was the only African Americans to attend the local schools. Malcolm X was rejected and often left out from pursing any opportunities throughout his whole life. This made him vulnerable, as a youngster to logical ideologies. From the time he was little he never settled for status quo, it was his hopes and ambitions that kept him searching for the truth.
In the letter, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr, and the speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X, the authors discuss their very different viewpoints on what form of freedom would it take to accomplished their goal. While King believes that peaceful approaches would allow the black community to achieve equality with the white Americans, Malcolm X thinks achieving equality with white Americans is nearly impossible; therefore, he preaches a separatist doctrine. Although King and X are both fighting for the black community’s rights and their integration into the nation’s system, their approaches differ significantly. King and X differ in three main areas: their ultimate goals, the strategies to accomplish those goals, and their use of rhetoric.
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” address their abilities of being self taught to read and write. A deficiency of education makes it difficult to traverse life in any case your race. Being an African American while in a dark period of mistreatment and making progress toward an advanced education demonstrates extraordinary devotion. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities on how they learned how to read and write as well
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.
Until the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his life’s work was dedicated to the nonviolent actions of blacks to gain the freedoms they were promised in the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 by Abraham Lincoln. He believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King, 1963). These injustices had become so burdensome to blacks that they were “plunged into an abyss of despair” (King, 1963). The nonviolent actions of the sit-ins, boycotts, and marches were so the “individual could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths…to help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism” and ultimately lead to “inevitably opening the door to negotiation” (King, 1963). Not only was King’s approach effective with the older black generation, it was also successful with white people. They did not feel threatened when approached by King. White people gained a sense of empathy towards the plight of black freedom as King’s promise of nonviolence did not threaten their livelihood. Malcolm X viewed the world similarly to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., however; his beliefs to changing the status quo were slightly different from his political counterpart. Malcolm X realized that “anger could blind human vision” (X, 1965). In realizing this, X knew that in order to achieve racial freedom blacks had to “forget hypocritical politics and propaganda” (X, 1965). While Malcolm X was more so an advocate for violent forces against white people than King, X merely used force when it became necessary for defense. According to X, “I don’t go for non-violence if it also means a delayed solution. I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to American black man’s problem” (X, 1965). However, this le...
...artin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X approach the same problem differently. They both use pathos, a central metaphor, and give a warning. However, Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos to create a welcoming and patriotic feeling whereas Malcolm X uses fear. Martin Luther King Jr. uses a check, used on a daily basis, as the object of his central metaphor; Malcolm X uses a powder keg, a very damaging and dangerous object, as the object of his central metaphor. Lastly, Martin Luther King Jr. warns his audience that the people of color will revolt passively. On the other hand, Malcolm X warns his audience that the people of color will revolt violently with bloodshed. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both achieve their goal. After reading both speeches, Malcolm X seems, in my opinion, to have made a greater impact on the white community because fear is stronger than joy.
Of the people whose names are mentioned in history, some men like Thomas Edison are praised for their genius minds, while others such as Adolf Hitler are criticized for leaving a depressing legacy behind. While it is relative easy to notice the type of legacies these two men left, legacies of other men are often vague and they seem to be imbedded in gray shadows. This is how many people view the life of Malcolm X. Malcolm X during his lifetime had influenced many African Americans to step up for their rights against the injustices by the American government. One on hand, he has been criticized for his hard stances that resemble extremism, while on the other hand he has been praised him for his effort in raising the status for African Americans. The extremes in viewing his life from the modern day perspective have often come from reading his climatic speech The Ballot or the Bullet that he gave in many cities across America in 1964. When he was with the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X favored Blacks to be separated from the Whites, and during this time he strongly opposed White Supremacy. This also seems quite prevalent in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. However, one events during the last year of his life reveal that he wanted the Blacks and the Whites to coexist as peaceful Americans.
The phrase ‘Coming of Age’ refers to the process of growing up or entering into adulthood. In these three coming of age tales of Barack Obama, Malcolm X and James Baldwin they all share a component in their lives with each other as they tell their tales of their dark pasts. Baldwin’s story is about how he becomes aware of himself and who he is as a person. Baldwin also shares a component with Obama because they both suffered from psychological loss of innocence of the protagonist between the ages of 10 to 20. The components Malcolm X has are both acquiring knowledge and he was accepting of the complexities and ‘greyness’ of the world.
Malcolm X was a freedom fighter like Dr. King who fought for the right and freedoms for black Americans. Unlike Malcolm, Dr. King called black Americans blacks while Malcolm called them Negros. Malcolm used violence in his fight for freedom when he said, “Revolution was based upon bloodshed”. Malcolm was ready for anything as far as blacks will gain the respect and freedom they needed. In Malcolm’s black revolution, he made it clear how blacks were treated differently no matter their age, what school they came out of, no matter what their intellectual or professional level was, they were still recognized as a boy and were not given the respect they deserved. He also pointed out how whites made them think they had different goals and objectives.
The autobiography of Malcolm X captures the personal growth and the journey of Malcolm Little, also known as Malcolm X. Throughout his life, Malcolm’s experiences shaped him into the human rights activist that we are all familiar with today. In his early age Malcolm believed every white person was malicious, he was a criminal, and he believed that Christianity prevented the progression of African Americans- later on in life, Malcolm became a controversial human rights activist, believed that white people were “well-meaning” people, and was a devout Muslim (pg. 383).