Malcolm X Research Paper

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Malcolm X's role in the Civil Rights Movement had a huge impact on the Civil Rights Movement and drove the movement forward. Malcolm X was a civil rights activist, who was the leader and spokesman of The Nation of Islam during the late 1950s and early 1960s until assassinated in 1965 (pbs.org). The Civil Rights Movement is known as one of America's most compelling times, where African Americans were treated poorly. African Americans faced discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including employment, education, and housing. (jfk.org) Malcolm X was essential to the movement due to his beliefs on social justice. His beliefs differed from those with typical ideas, he believed that African Americans had the right to defend themselves using self-defense, and called the whites, …show more content…

He also believed in “Black Nationalism” alongside other civil rights leaders, black nationalism encouraged racial pride which created a sense of pride for who they were towards African Americans. X also claimed the white people discriminating against those with colored skin were “white devils.” As seen in an interview, Malcolm X claims that “the devil's time is up'' now that African Americans were “waking up" and realizing they were being controlled under the ruling of the whites after years of being “blind.” (teachingamericanhistory.org) Continuing with this, due to a recent conversion into Islam, he believed African Americans were “God’s chosen people” and that blacks and whites should be separated to achieve justice, “God’s people” but was assassinated before being given a chance to speak on it. With X’s tactics within his activism, he was able to change the perspectives of many African Americans and set a tone in the Civil Rights