The leader whose methods were most effective during the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr. His main goal during the civil rights movement was to have the whites and the blacks all come together to form equality. He fought for this equality through a nonviolent approach, which granted him respect from different races all over the world. Nonviolence also allowed the African Americans to achieve their goal. Nonviolent marches, sit-ins, and protests all had a huge impact in having Kennedy making a civil rights bill. This strategy would lead to creating peace and having all Americans live in harmony. This was the opposite of Malcolm X’s strategy, which was to inflict violence when necessary. King explains that ¨Violence, even in self- …show more content…
Malcolm X on the other hand did not want an integrated society. Instead, we wanted the white Americans to stop being in control of what they do. He stated “in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man”. He thinks that this will allow the Blacks to be respected, but this would have instead caused a loss in communication between the two groups and more problems to erupt. For example, two groups will think they are superior to the other and lots of competition would form. Malcolm did on the other hand create pride for African Americans, but his methods would have never created the racial equality we have today. King states “What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program which will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. So far, this has only been offered by the nonviolent movement”. He explains that nonviolence is the quickest way to change the lives of many Americans. King showed people that in order to achieve your goals, you will have to work for it in a righteous way, even though it is much simpler to take the easy way out by using violence. Without Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful wisdom, Americans, regardless of their diversities, would not be experiencing many of the freedoms we have today. As one may see, King was true leader of the civil rights