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

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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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Nonviolence was a successful method of the Negro Revolution that occurred in 1963. King stressed the importance of peacefulness and performing all planned protests in a nonviolent

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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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1372 Words | 6 Pages

In the 1960, in america during the civil war movement two leaders emerged wanting freedom but both had different views on how to achieve that goal. The first man was Martin Luther King Jr. and believed in more peaceful tactics while the other man Malcolm X believed more of a violent approach and shared his very well observed hate towards mostly the white man. I will be showing you why Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy is the most accurate way to accomplish the goal of freedom thru the works of non violent responses, boycotts, and demanding equality. The first reason was his approach to the white men when they try to harm African Americans or break them down.

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728 Words | 3 Pages

During the 1960’s, the Civil Rights Movement was a big topic and controversy with all of the United States. It was quite clear that African Americans did not get treated the same way that whites did. It had been ruled that it was constitutional to be “separate but equal”, but African Americans always had less than the whites did. For example, the schools that they had were run down, and had very little classrooms, books, and buses. Martin Luther King had a large role in the Civil Rights Movement, as did Malcolm X, and others.

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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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In order to further prove that nonviolence is the way to stop racism and gain equality, Dr. King writes: “I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, I am convinced that by now many streets of the South would be flowing with floods of blood” (). In this quote, Dr. King once again argues that non violence and peace are the best ways to stop the cycle of violence. The phrase “the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle” shows that even though they are struggling, nonviolence can help them.

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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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The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s is regarded as one of the most remarkable social revolutions in modern history. It is the reason Americans can attend school or go to work with people of color, and why no race is given priority over another. But before this social reform, people of color (POCs) and most prominently African Americans were subjected to segregation; a flawed system in which the races were “separate but equal”. Through organizations like the NAACP or the SCLC and individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) and Malcolm X, relative equality was achieved for Africans Americans and all POC’s. Both civil rights leaders Dr. King and Malcolm X held a synonymous belief: black empowerment, but adhered to philosophies that

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1125 Words | 5 Pages

Martin Luther King Jr said,“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. In the late 1960s, racial tension was high, African Americans were not given the right to vote, the right to a fair education, and the right to a fair judgement. This then led to the separation of schools and the destruction of a normal livelihood. Dr.King and Malcolm X, two men in the face of oppression rose up to challenge the racial barrier, thus changing the world forever. Although Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X seem to have mutual respect and an equal understanding of the inequality, their philosophies were quite different from each other.

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525 Words | 3 Pages

Malcolm X didn’t agree with what King’s views, he believed that MLK’s dream was not a dream but a nightmare. Martin Luther King Jr’s approach to civil rights and equality was non-violent protesting, sit-ins, and getting as much people together as possible while not using violence. However, Malcolm X’s approach to this was almost the opposite. He was against the views of whites and he was willing to do whatever was needed to achieve

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175 Words | 1 Pages

The stress of black activists pushed them to use violence in order to achieve racial equality and to protect themselves from enemies like the KKK and police brutality. The assassination of John F. Kennedy caused the nation to lose hope as this violence rapidly spread throughout the U.S. The violence from the KKK terrified many black and white people, which slowed the approach to racial equality significantly. Nonviolence, MLK’s method of protesting, was also a major factor in the slow approach to racial equality, and many activists did not like this approach. After his death, many activists were convinced that violence was the key to achieving their goals.

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995 Words | 4 Pages

“ I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear” - Martin Luther King Jr. (Garland). We all know and learn about the famous Dr. King and what he did, but do we actually follow up his role in our own lives? Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for his non-violent protests and teachings inspired by Ghandi.

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