Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X Dbq

During, the fight for civil rights in the late 1950s and 1960s two men stood up to lead the black community to fight for their rights and their equality.

In the 1960’s it was a hard time for black Americans to consider themselves as equals due to the laws in the United States of America. The Civil War had stopped slavery but hadn’t stopped discrimination towards blacks. To help their fellow African Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. both wanted to find a way that could and a way that should help all African Americans receive equality in a world where they weren’t wanted. Although both smart, young African American men had the same goal, they both had a different way of achieving that goal. Whereas one believed that a peaceful

Malcolm X’s theory of separate schools, separately working to solve the problem of equality and self defense made more sense during the 1960s. Malcolm X’s philosophy made more sense because although Malcolm X and Martin Luther King didn’t hate each other they didn’t exactly like each other’s philosophy. X believed that having separate schools was a much better way of having black American kids to learn but Martin Luther King believed that being integrated was the smartest idea. King states in his speech on Alabama State Capitol that “Negroes and whites study side by side in the socially healing context of the classroom” (Document D). King is stating that having both races learning together can help end segregation but as X states “Unity will devise original education methods and procedure” (Document E). This meaning that the whites can change the ways of education and they can manipulate many things because they don’t want the right education for black Americans. In order for studying side by side to work both sides have to want to do it together. Having integrated schools is good until what you are supposed to learn is not what you are learning because those who are supposed to teach you don’t want to. Separate schools isn’t the

And in winning our freedom we will appeal to your heart and conscience so that we will you in the process.” (Document H). In this quote King is stating that by not fighting back and killing them with kindness they will get the white community on their side and they will feel sympathy for them, but as X states in his speech at The Organization of Afro-American Unity Homecoming Rally in Harlem “I’m for peace,but the only way you’re going to preserve peace is be prepared for war.” (Document I) X is stating that to have peace you must be ready to protect yourself from anything and everything because your enemy won’t stop till you are unable to fight so you have to be ready to do the same thing even if you aren’t going to attack you at least have to be able to defend yourself. X’s theory on this makes more sense because asking someone to be nonviolent when they are being attacked is asking too much of the black American communities because there is only so much that they can let pass until they have had enough of peaceful retaliation because watching your kids get beat and watching churches getting bombed is going to trigger something in someone that says enough is enough and makes you want to fight back physically especially if nonviolence isn’t working anymore as X states in his interview in The Young Socialist on January 18,1965 “I believe we should protect ourselves by any means necessary when we are attacked by