MLK and Malcolm The civil rights movement was a social movement that happened from 1954 to 1968 in protest of the discriminatory actions towards African Americans. During this time, African Americans were discriminated against by being unable to vote and separated from white people in schools, hotels and restaurants, as well as being discriminated against in the workplace and even being unable to find a job. A set of laws called the Jim Crow Laws made this type of discrimination legal at local and state levels. To try to stop this racist behavior, African Americans took action, by holding marches, protests, boycotts, and more. The civil rights movement had many leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm. These historical figures, …show more content…
Whereas King and his compatriots fought for the goal of racial integration, Malcolm's Muslims spurned integration with "white devils" and urged separation. African Americans who desired integration, he charged, were ashamed of their race and wished they were white" (David Howard-Pitney). Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm have different views on the civil rights movement due to their different upbringings, views on racial inequality, and actions they took during the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X had very different upbringings, which greatly affected their views on racial inequality and the civil rights movement later in life. King was raised in a well-off loving family, with both his dad and grandfather working as pastors. Education was prioritized, and he eventually became a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. "His charismatic leadership and inspirational oratory helped create black unity and resolve to keep demonstrating, often amid danger and adversity" (David …show more content…
"How can the so-called Negroes who call themselves enlightened leaders expect the poor black sheep to integrate into a society of bloodthirsty white wolves, white wolves who have already been sucking on our blood for over four hundred years here in America?" Malcolm X 1963 -. Malcolm's hatred towards white people is understandable, as he has been persecuted by them since he was young, but he was very adamant that all whites were evil. Martin Luther King Jr had a very different opinion on white people and the discrimination towards African Americans. King believed that African Americans should integrate with whites and that only being desegregated was not enough for full racial equality. Opposing Malcolm, King did not believe that separation was good, and that blacks and whites should be equal and be together as a community. "There is no scale of essential worth; there is no divine right of one race which is different from the divine right of