How Is Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X Alike

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were two influential men who served as important figures for the Civil Rights Movement. The two men came from diverse backgrounds and had contrasting views in life about religion and African American’s stance in society. Malcolm X was born in Nebraska and had great amounts of exposure to racism. Martin Luther King was born in an educated family in Atlanta, where he experienced racism, but to a lower extreme than Malcolm X. Although they passed away long time ago, they continue to live on today in a world independent of segregation. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X used opposing principles to achieve equality for blacks; King utilized integration of both races and nonviolence as opposed to Malcolm X who separated

In his Letter From Birmingham Jail, he claimed, “Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.” King considered the use of violence to be immoral, even if one was using violence in terms of standing up for their own rights. He trained his followers to never use violence regardless of the attacks during marches and protests. He believed it was wrong to legally make segregation of blacks a law and taking away rights of other citizens. In his letter, he wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.” He claimed that one should use only moral methods to reach their moral ends. He further explains that these laws are taking away respect from blacks and giving superiority to the whites. Although these laws were made legal, they were not justified. Conversely, Malcolm X justified violence in order to defend oneself.

In King’s speech, I Have a Dream, he preached the importance of integration between the two races in order to gain equality. In his speech he stated, “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” King believed cooperation among both races would result in equality. He believed that the African American community and white community were required to come together in order to solve the problem of inequality for the blacks. In contrast to King, Malcolm X preached for the separation among both races. In Malcolm X’s, By Any Means Necessary, he said, “But we think they should control theirs and we should control ours. Don’t let us try and mix with each other because every time that mixture takes place we always find that the lack man is low man.” Through his experiences with white people, he had concluded they were evil. Malcolm X believed that the African Americans should avoid mixing with the whites even though it may not have been the safest option. Since the whites were depreciating the value of the blacks, Malcolm X was certain that the blacks would be better independent of the whites. He was certain that the blacks would build confidence and pride in their own race instead of constantly being