Same War, Different Tatics

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Same War, Different Tactics

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were both important activists in the fight for civil rights. They had the same desire for equal rights; however, they adopted very different views on how to achieve those rights. As Goldman says in Malcolm X: Witness for the Prosecution, “Malcolm and King were not so much Manichaean opposites as halves in a yin-yang duality deep in the black soul” (pg. 226). King is known as a peaceful man who used a nonviolent approach. He used what he called “weapons of love” to fight for freedom. King was fighting to show people that they could accept blacks and look at them as equals. It was vital for him to find peace among all races and overcome the hatred felt for one another. Malcolm used an “any means necessary" approach in his fight. He was fighting to show African Americans that they should be proud of whom they were. The empowerment of his people was more important to him than living peacefully with whites. Although the tactics they used differed with one in other, King and Malcolm both inspired African Americans to fight for justice and the civil rights they deserved.

King believed that the way to secure civil rights for African Americans was through a nonviolent approach. In his speech “Where Do We Go From Here?” King expresses that nonviolence “is the most potent weapon available to the Negro in his struggle for justice…through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder…darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.” King wants his listeners to believe that violence and hatred will not provide relief from years of oppression. It is only through love and nonviolence (light) that we can overcome hatred (darkness). King understood the frust...

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...ciety. This fear enabled African Americans to feel strong and begin to believe that they were worthy of civil rights. He gave them confidence, and a voice when they were too afraid to speak. It is through the work of these two men that African Americans have the equal rights that white people have.

Works Cited

Goldman, Peter. “Malcolm X: Witness for the Prosecution.” Malcolm X: As They Knew Him. Ed.

David Gallen. New York. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. 1992. 213-241. Print.

23 Mar. 2011

King, Martin Luther. “I have a Dream.” Americanrhetoric.com. Top 100 Speeches. n.d. Web.

23 Mar. 2011

King, Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The King Center. 16 Apr. 1963. Web. 9

23 Mar. 2011

X, Malcolm. “The Ballot or the Bullet.” Teaching American History.Org 1964. Web.

23 Mar. 2011

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