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Comparing The Views Of Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X In The 1960s

694 Words3 Pages

Is the answer to discrimination violence, or is peace the way to go? During the 1960s, African-Americans were being discriminated against and wanted a change. They created the Civil Rights Movement to help gain their equal rights. Two main Civil Rights leaders of the 60s were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King believed that African Americans could receive their rights by peacefully protesting. Malcolm X believed that in order for African Americans to receive equality, they had to take it by force using violence. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the partakers of the Civil Rights Movement changed their views on how to achieve equality, although they faced multiple challenges, but throughout these difficulties I believed that Malcolm …show more content…

King died they turned to violence. In Document 6 Kathleen Neal Cleaver says, “Because once King was murdered, in April ‘68, that kind of ended any public commitment to nonviolent change.” The nonviolent protesters decided to change their ways because they realized that peaceful protests weren’t working, which resolved in Dr. King’s death. “ It was like, Well we tried that, and that’s what happened.” In Document 2 Bob Lucas states, “After Dr. King left the city in late August of 1966, having failed really in Chicago, we began to notice a wider split between the blacks and the whites in the civil rights movement.” Dr. King’s philosophy of peace didn’t work in Chicago, which caused them to turn away from their nonviolent movement and embrace Malcolm X’s philosophy. Many African-Americans decided to change to violent acts because they believed that peaceful protests weren’t making a difference, and violence would be the quickest way to bring …show more content…

In Document 1 Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party states, “We had seen Martin Luther King come in an effort to calm the people, and we had seen his philosophy of nonviolence rejected.” After Dr. King’s attempt and failure to spread his philosophy to the Watts community, Newton began to question the power of nonviolence. “We recognized that the rising consciousness of Black people was almost at the point of explosion.” In Document 6 Kathleen Neal Cleaver says, “Because even nonviolent change was violently rejected, So it was like the Panthers were all of a sudden thrust into the forefront of being the alternative…” Dr. King’s death was an opening for the Black Panthers to spread their violent beliefs. Since it happened almost immediately after King’s death, this proves that Dr King’s philosophy of peace wasn’t

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In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. King professes his disappointment with the white moderates for calling him an extremist for his schemes. At first, in paragraph 27, King does not deny the fact-by using anaphora- that there are some Negros who “advocate violence”, but he also asserts that there are even more for “nonviolent protest”(King 28). In making this comment, King urges for people to look at his acts of nonviolent protesting . Indeed the insignificant amount of violence will be more looked upon than the nonviolence; however, there are numerous acts nonvilence that should surpass this. Additionally, in paragraph 31, King states how at first he despised the label but then “gained [...] satisfaction” from it.

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He states that “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action.” (379). in this quote Martin Luther King shows he has no plans to use violence in his civil rights movement. Instead he has a respectful view to handle the situation that is at hand. “it is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the negro community with no alternative.”

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When it comes to America's History you can clearly see how peaceful protest has brought this world to what it is today. If it wasn't for people such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who voiced their opinions in a nonviolent manner, it's possible that our world would not have reached this equivalent state. While it is true that peaceful resistance has positively affected our society for centuries, these brave people have faced the consequences. For example, King was arrested after one of his nonviolent protests and sent to Birmingham Jail. While there he wrote the now famous piece "A Letter From Birmingham Jail".

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MLK knew that violence would get blacks nowhere in the success of freedom. “Thus, in purely practical as well as moral terms, the American Negro has no alternative to nonviolence” (Doc L). Nonviolence civil disobedience was the only possible way to influence legislation or government policy. During the Civil Rights Movement, nonviolence would be the right thing to

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Meeting violence with violence proves to be a speedy tactic when change is in need. However, although Malcom X’s approach inspired some of king’s followers to switch sides and take the aggressive approach Malcom preached about; it gave those who oppressed African American citizen’s rights something to complain about. If given the chance too, Malcom X’s violent approach may have earned African American’s rights sooner, but at the cost of both black and white lives while also labeling the African race as violent bunch. Dr.Kings approach, in my opinion, was that of taking the high road. It proved that those who followed in his footsteps were calm, peaceful, and relatively harmless Americans who wanted nothing more equal rights.

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Unfortunately, the Vietnam War wasn’t the only concern for Martin Luther King Jr. at that time period. “Black radicals increasingly turned away from the Gandhian precepts of King toward the Black Nationalism of Malcolm X, whose posthumously published autobiography and speeches reached large audiences after his assassination in February 1965.” Malcolm X was able to challenge King’s nonviolent approach by emphasizing the idea of combating white aggression by any means that were necessary in order to defend the black community. He argued that Martin Luther King’s approach would not help the black people to defend from unhuman attacks of whites and that his approach postpones the solution to problems of black community. It was an American approach in history to get on that shady path of violence and King knew it perfectly, so he was “unpersuaded by black nationalist calls for racial uplift and institutional development in black communities.”

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