Malcolm X: From Nonviolent Approach To The Social Movement

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.” Martin Luther King Jr. pinpointed the importance of change within the structure of American society, while black nationalists were creating even more segregation among white and black community by promoting violence vs. violence tactics.

Sadly, but neither Malcolm, nor King were able to see how the system drastically changed and how things that were acceptable and tolerable for centuries started to gradually disappear and extinct. We can still witness that hatred and bigotry from time to time and there is much more social improvement to be made in 21st century, but King’s role in the American history will be forever remembered, respected and