Similarities Between MLK And Malcolm X

The 1960s served as a hotbed for tension between whites and African-Americans in the United States. Police brutality, segregation, intimidation, and other forms of social injustice was all too common. Martin Luther King is perhaps the most famous civil rights activist while Malcolm X was not quite as popular as King. MLK believed in the integration of races to make a common brotherhood. King is quoted as saying “...With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together…” This was not the stand that Malcolm took. X said “[white people should] Work in conjunction with us- each of us working among our own kind.” Malcolm X did not deny willing white people the ability to help, he

This was not because X was racist, he was quoted as saying, “We will completely respect our white co-workers. They will deserve credit. We will give them every credit. We will meanwhile be working among our own kind, in our own black communities - showing and teaching black men in ways that only other black men can..” Malcolm X knew that only black men would be able to relate and understand the struggles of other black men. He knew all too well of the terrors that white people have committed unto blacks. Malcolm had his house burned down as a kid and even knew that the members of white supremacy group known as the ‘Black Legion’ tried tying his father down to railroad tracks. Malcolm did not want other to deal with the intimidation he faced as a kid. He said “..We encourage Afro-Americans themselves to establish experimental institutes and educational workshops, liberation schools and child-care centers in Afro-American communities.” Malcolm X believed in building up the black community so that they were strong, self-sufficient and not subject to abuse and intimidation from