Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the most notable civil rights leaders during the 1950s and 1960s, but both of them had different views on how the civil rights movement would prevail. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. had an unwavering love for their people, which made them stop at nothing to battle oppression, even though they had conflicting beliefs. King believed that the way to be heard was through acts of nonviolence, while Malcolm X believed just the opposite. They were both devoutly religious, Dr. King of the Christian faith, and Malcolm a part of the Nation of Islam. They often used their religions to provide determination and unity amongst black Americans. Both men were tragically killed before they could …show more content…
became one of the most influential civil rights leaders, he was a reverend. His Christian beliefs had much to do with how he chose to lead his political movements, often drawing from the Bible to get his views across. He preached of love and that everyone is equal "in the eyes of the Lord", so there should be equality for all, regardless of your race, religion, class, etcetera. (CITATION)At the time Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his "Letter From Birmingham Jail" in 1963, his number one philosophy for fighting against the oppression African Americans faced was to do so without violence. In the beginnings of his rise to political leadership, King believed that passiveness was the only way to get their point across and to get people listening.(CITATION) Nothing was more important to King than his acts of protest being violent-free zones, but as much as King wanted his protests, marches, sit-ins, and other forms of civil rights movements to be peaceful ones, it was unfortunately inevitable that violence would break …show more content…
He blindly believed that as long as the movement remained non-violent, it would be a success, which, though a hopeful way of thinking, was naive at best. This hopeful mindset is part of the many reasons King was very popular with the people, making it one of his biggest strengths. He was a great and compelling speaker with vast amounts of knowledge, but he also had many political weaknesses as well. King was wonderful at giving speeches, but he was very much a "talk-the-talk but not walk-the-walk" type of leader, meaning that though he gave riveting speeches about taking action, he rarely did anything to actually push the movement forward, often times backing out of protests. King himself said his greatest weakness was "fighting for the rights of others" (CITATION) because his fear and self-doubt caused him from being a full potential
"an unjust law is no law at all."- quote by St. Augustine who was an Christian theologian and philosopher, whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity. Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist minister and civil rights leader that made advancements for civil rights peacefully, exclusively for African Americans in America. Mohandas Gandhi was a non-violent leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. Accordingly, both MLK Jr. and Gandhi were leaders for civil rights that practiced and preached non-violent approaches for their freedom.Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi were both valid in their judgment to break the law for their peaceful protests.
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
The main primary difference focused on their willingness to employ violence to achieve their end goals. While Dr. King suggests a civil disobedient approach in “Give Us The Ballot” and “Pilgrimage to Non Violence,” Malcolm X believed otherwise, expressing his belief that the black community needed to rise up and organize. Malcolm X articulated his view on the necessary use of violence and retaliation in “The Ballot or the Bullet”.
On April 12, 1964, Malcolm X stepped in front of a crowd of two thousand in Detroit’s King Solomon Baptist Church. Ministers initially attempted to prevent Malcolm X from using the church to deliver the speech at the last minute, as they had already estimated the potential for controversy (“Say It Plain, Say It Loud”). Many historians deem the speech, titled “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Malcolm X’s greatest performance. Only a month after departing from the Nation of Islam and joining the mainstream Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X already recognized the vital flaw in the movement: the African American expectation of help from the white population. “The Ballot or the Bullet” aimed to point out that flaw and unite all African Americans through
While addressing the clergymen’s public statement, King successfully encouraged his followers to stay in a hopeful and devoted state of mind despite the clergymen’s advice to cease demonstrations and marches. This is the reason why this letter is so important to the civil rights movement. It proved that although King was arrested, he remained hopeful in his boycotts, his sit-ins, and his demonstrations, because he believed in a better future for society.
Malcolm X speech “The "Ballot or the Bullet” speech, was delivered in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 3, 1964(McLeod). It was a year for election. In his speech, he started by saying, “The Ballot or the Bullet explain itself” (Malcolm). By saying that, Malcolm was preparing people for action. Malcolm was encouraging the African Americans to stand up for themselves to fight for the right to vote. He claimed if things did not work out with the vote to have equality in the govern; the only way is taking matters into their own hands. Even though some people believe that taking matter in their own hand is the solution, in reality, it can cause more harm than good in some cases. I say that because we all have seen in some countries of Africa when the tribes fighting each other. Malcolm emphasized on separation that the African American should stick together independent of their religion. He suggest doing that by “the philosophy of black nationalism.”
He believed in black nationalism; which meant that the African American should “control the politics, economics and social philosophy within the African American community”. Malcolm X felt that marching, protesting, and singing was just a Hollywood act and would never amount to nothing. He stated “today it’s time to stop singing and start swinging and the African American needed a revolution however it could be bloody” (The Ballot or The Bullet (1964)). At the end of his speech he reminded his followers with these words “It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.” His viewpoints were totally opposite of Martin Luther King,
In contrast, Dr. King believed in the change through nonviolent methods, influenced by Gandhi. He also showed his readiness to work with whites toward social justice. However, X and Dr. King, with their two different ideologies, wanted to attain the same goal, Afro-Americans’ freedom (Malcolm X).
No matter who you are or what you believe in. To solve this problem people must “submerge” their differences and realize that they have the same problems. In the speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” X also talks about Religion, X states that “Although I’m still a Muslim, I’m not here tonight to discuss my religion. I’m not here to try and change your religion. I’m not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about”. In this quote, he shed light on the idea of how religion is interfering with justice because it creates division, conflict, and hate between one another. Malcolm X, the idea of religions is that religion was a private matter and should only be between God and the believer. In another quote, Malcolm X states “Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences”. He encouraged people to put aside their religious beliefs and come together to fight for the rights of black people in order to remain fully united as
the segregationists, resulting in the injury and deaths of many of King’s followers. With these points in mind, King came to the conclusion that the best strategy in gaining the rights of African American was the use of non-violent protest. He believed that violence only “intensifies evil,';
When MLK was taken in to custody, he was charged with “parading without a permit”(King), which really means he was doing wrong because it was a parade against segregation. He was holding a peaceful protest on behalf of the people who did not have a voice for themselves, and he was going to stop at nothing to be heard. MLK, while in jail, was receiving criticizing letters from all over about his protest, he never responded to them until he came across one. Eight Alabama clergymen entitled, “A Call For Unity”, which explained that he should be fighting in courts only and not on the street, wrote the letter. When King writes back that taking direct action is the only way to achieve the true civil rights even if it goes against what is morally right.
The two men joined the fight for equality for similar reasons. King’s family were terrorized by all the whites in his area, and X’s father. was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. This inspired and motivated both to challenge the society to be more inclusive. Whilst fighting for the same thing - equality for blacks - the movements they became involved with went about achieving their goals in completely different ways. The Civil Rights Movement is most commonly linked with Martin Luther.
Malcolm considered “Little” a slave name and chose the “X” to signify his lost tribal name (Rummel 157). In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted pastoral membership of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.... ... middle of paper ... ... Malcolm now shares the same beliefs as Martin, emphasizing unity and non-violent sabotage through Black pride and respect for oneself, rather than through revenge and hate (Rummel 125). Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X are both remembered as strong leaders who shared an equal dream that one day their people would be free from racism and oppression.
Speeches are a method of persuading people to do something. For Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, their speeches were to bring equality for the people of color. However, their approaches are different. Consequently, the effects may be different. An example of their contrasting differences is a speech from each, King’s “I Have a Dream” and X’s “The Black Revolution”. Their speeches used pathos, a central metaphor, and a warning, but was presented differently.
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” .