Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racial problems in the usa today
Malcolm X’s perspectives
Race relations in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racial problems in the usa today
Malcolm X’s perspectives
Race relations in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Violent vs Nonviolent Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. Whose philosophy made the most sense for America in the 1960s? The Civil Rights Movement began during the 1950s and ended in 1960. The entire reason why this movement was happening is because although the slaves had been free a while ago, they were not given the same rights as white people had and on top of that they were being violently beaten up to death if not sent to the hospital.
This journal article belabours the point that is also a common theme in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”: Malcolm’s changing views on civil rights. Again as a result of his tumultuous childhood because of the “white man”, Malcolm generalizes all white people as essentially haters of blacks because of the negative experiences he’s had with them and the tragic ways they treated him. But, as he grows older and matures, Malcolm has the eye-opening experience of seeing people of all colors worship next to each other. This is an interaction between blacks and whites that creates a positive environment as an outcome.
His father was a Baptist minister, as was his grandfather, and Martin Luther grew up to be the third minister in the family. He was a bright and intelligent young man, being the valedictorian in his high school class, attending college, and earning a doctorate degree. Of course, Martin experienced racial segregation throughout his lifetime, which led him to become involved in the civil rights movement. Influenced by Gandhi’s actions in India, he led many peaceful protests, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, in hopes of ending segregation. Martin Luther King believed in racial and ethical equality, nonviolent protests, and love and peace.
Martin Luther King’s string of peaceful protests against the self-thought superior white race is what earned him the Nobel Peace Prize, Malcolm X spit hot fire against the white man’s oppression on African Americans, stating that they were blocking the path in civil rights progression. Both public figures fought for the same goal of equal treatment and opportunity, but the actions taken by this duo to reach this goal were anything but the same. When you have two ingenious men battling for the same cause, progression is bound to happen, another given is one will stride farther than the other, and in this case that’s exactly what Malcom X did. One of the reasons Malcom X and Martin Luther King were so different has to do with how they grew up,
The leadership style of Martin Luther King Jr. earned him to be recognized as the face of the Civil Rights movement. Therefore, Malcolm X should have changed his leadership style to work with Martin Luther King Jr. because his way of fighting for civil rights was strategically thought out and ultimately effective. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights movement. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Reverend Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. came from a line of pastors in his family, and from the beginning, he was on his way to becoming one himself (Martin Luther King Jr.).
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both leaders of the Civil Rights movement often on opposite ends of the movement. The two men approached the need for equality in the black community from differing perspectives while sharing a similar ideology. King addressed the struggles, goals, and hopes of the movement with his speech I Have a Dream. In response, Malcolm X gave his own speech The Ballot or The Bullet, within his speech he addressed a specific topic of Black Nationalism. In both speeches, we find classic uses of rhetorical tools such as ethos, pathos, and logos.
MLK and Malcolm X both wanted equality but in different ways. Martin Luther King believed in nonviolence to end segregation. However, Malcolm X believed in segregation; where African Americans would govern themselves without bothering the whites. But which idea was better for society? Malcolm X’s philosophy offers a variety of solutions for
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 the same races and employed non violence so as to achieve the same goal.
Malcolm X grew up in a much lesser community. His neighborhood was violent and there wasn’t much schooling. Martin Luther King Jr. was always against violence, throughout his entire lifetime and believed using nonviolent forms of protest. King would even condone being nonviolent when he was hurt physically. Malcolm X used whatever form of protest he needed to get the job done and
Malcolm and his siblings often received threats of removal from their family if their behavior did not improve, which did nothing but enraged him further to rebel. As times grew harder for Malcolm’s family emotionally, mentally, and most of all financially, the rebellious nature that shaped their home drew the attention of the government. The life insurance money was running out quickly and the foster homes attempted to bring the children into their care, instead of their mothers. Malcolm made it clear that he was not the only child putting stress on his mother considering ‘‘[a]ll of us were mischievous at some time or another, I more so than any of the rest. Philbert and I kept a battle going, and this was just one of a dozen things that kept building up the pressure on my mother” (Malcolm X 21).
Focusing specifically on the opposition of racial segregation, The Civil Rights movement symbolized the need for change across America. Between the years of 1950 and 1960, events such as; the March on Washington, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, speeches, protests, and sit-ins, directly defined such opposition. Due to such events, two outstanding leaders of their time, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X emerged into the public eye and began to impact the Civil Rights movement. At a turning point of the century, the two men took charge and became icons across the world while resonating significantly with African American minorities. With such in mind, the two men had extreme differences in their morals, ideals, and religions; however, both deemed
From the beginning of Malcolm X’s life he saw the injustices in the country of America, he was only a kid innocent to the world around him. His father was supposedly killed in a car accident, but Malcolm and his family believe that he was murdered by the Black Legion, which was a group of white racist. Even worse the officials claimed that his father had committed suicide, which prevented his family from inheriting the life insurance money. Furthermore, in the midst of all this happening to young Malcolm his mother began to go crazy and as a consequence, she got sent to a mental hospital.
When he joined the Nation of Islam, he changed his family name from “Little” to “X” as it was “a custom among Nation of Islam followers who considered their family names to have originated with white slaveholders” (1). Malcolm benefited the organization by being a spokesman and expanding the movement (“Malcolm X.” History. History Channel, n.d 1). He “became the minister of Temple No. 7 in Harlem and Temple No. 11 in Boston” (“Malcolm X Biography” 1). “An articulate public speaker, a charismatic personality, and an indefatigable organizer, Malcolm X expressed the pent-up anger, frustration, and bitterness of African Americans during the major phase of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 to 1965”
and Malcolm X share a similar hatred for racism and the oppression of their God-given rights as human beings. While Malcolm X directs his hatred solely towards the white man, King finds aspiration and persuasively sympathises with his oppressors in hopes of a better future. Through their tones, parts of speech, vocabulary, and methods of terminating racism, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X drastically differ. However, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X’s purpose in life was to eradicate the oppression felt by the common African American man. Each of their bloodlines descended from the enslavement of their ancestors.
Without Malcolm, the White people would have not favored Martin Luther King Jr. over other Civil Rights leaders. Towards the end of Malcolm’s life, Martin Luther King Jr. began to become more like Malcolm in a militant way. Martin Luther king Jr. “was also re-evaluating his presuppositions and was moving toward a greater understanding of Malcolm X, especially regarding black pride, separatism, and White America’s lack of commitment to genuine black equality” (Cone, 1992, p. 256). These transformations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas, likely led him to accomplish the revolution of Civil Rights. Although, this is a possibility, it is extremely unrealistic.