Mlk Vs Malcolm X Comparison Essay

When Worlds Collide: A Comparison between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X’s approaches to the Civil Rights Movement influenced by their childhood years, religious beliefs, and starts as leaders in Civil Rights.

Introduction

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two distinguished figures in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. Despite having devoted their lives to producing prolific advances to the political climate of the Civil Rights Movement, King and Malcolm X had distinct opposing views. King heavily believed in desegregation and integration through the means of non-violence whereas Malcolm X had a more radical perspective, pushing for separation by any means necessary, including violence. The polarising approaches of King

Martin Luther King Jr. lived a comfortable childhood in Atlanta Georgia, born on the verge of the Great Depression. As a young boy, he made observations about the differences in socioeconomic states. For instance, at the age of five, King questioned why dozens of people stood in bread lines while his middle-class family strolled past the impoverished (King, 35). King had described himself as having “always been the questioning and precocious type.”, his young curiosity of racial issues had been fostered by dinner table discussions with his family (King, 39). King grew up in a household that strongly upheld religious ideals, his father was a prominent theologian in the National Baptist Church, a prominent African American Church, making Christianity and the African American Community an anchor throughout his familial and personal life (Howard-Pitney,

Throughout his career, Martin Luther King Jr. had an unwavering dedication to achieving his goal of an integrated society through non-violent means. His ultimate goal was to achieve a “beloved community” which he believed a truly just society was one that loved all members of the human race (Howard-Pitney, 57). With legal segregation and black suffrage being largely secured by mid-1965, King shifted his focus towards aiding the impoverished as he believed that addressing this issue was interconnected with the need to achieve full equality for African Americans. In this same year, the United States decided to enter the Vietnam war, gaining harsh criticism from King on the government’s capitalism and foreign policies. His growing radicalism caused a downfall in his support from the U.S government and the whites as in his 1967 address at New York City’s Riverside Church where he labelled the government as “the greatest purveyor of violence”(King,