Society today will never understand the struggles of the black community, that had to endure to battle for racial equality and freedom, back in the day. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X were very influential African American individuals who had a goal to achieve and to accomplish one task, to fight for their rights. Years after the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, still remain the two of the world's most respected political activists of the American Civil Rights movement. The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place mainly in the timeframe between the 1950s and 1960s for blacks to gain equal rights under the law in the United States. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences of …show more content…
He was a well-educated man who believed in the Christian faith who was always against violence, throughout his entire ministry. His approach to civil rights was non-violent protesting, speaking out for non-violence, passive resistance, and what he called, "weapons of love". According to Martin Luther King Jr., he believes that "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation for such a method is love." One of his famous accomplishments was the March from Washington to the Lincoln memorial took place in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Over 20,000 people came to march on, this event is where he became a huge influence of the civil rights movement. In the mind of Dr. King, he was convinced that self-respect would come through …show more content…
Dr. King and Malcom X knew racism was the biggest issue that had to be fixed, with the support of millions of followers. Unlike their differences of religion, the independent strong leaders had their own spiritual beliefs. Meanwhile, Malcolm X was older than Martin Luther King Jr., they were both assassinated at the same age. Malcolm was 39 when the members of the Nation of Islam gunned him down on February 21, 1965 as he gave his speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. King was 39 as well, when James Earl Ray shot him down on April 4 1968, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; he was in town to support striking African American sanitation workers. As Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcom X may have different takes on nonviolence, the two prominent leaders shared a great deal of
1963 and 1964, two pivotal years in American history. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and in 1964 Malcom X wrote “The Ballot or the Bullet”. Before, during, and after these two years the United States was a place where racial equality was inexistent. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were pioneers in bringing attention to this issue. Both men wrote letters and released them to the public, one from a jail cell and another recited his letter in a church.
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,
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were significant beings in the civil rights movements. Although MLK is more significant in most eyes, Malcolm X did assist the movements in many ways. These men met once at a Senate debate in 1964, as King was respectful of Malcolm on this day. Although King did later say that he disagreed with most of his views.
Nearly a century following the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in the South still faced a world of inequality, segregation, and other forms of oppression. “Jim Crow” laws, state and local laws enforcing racial segregation, were prime examples of this. In 1954, the US Supreme Court put in place the “separate but equal” doctrine that formed the basis for state sanctioned discrimination, drawing attention to the plight of African Americans. During the years that followed, activists used nonviolent protest and civil disobedience to bring about change. Among these leaders were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two prominent activists during this time.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. are very outstanding and the most well known African American leaders throughout the history. Black revolution was one of the most important events where African Americans demanded their respects and liberty from whites. Malcolm X and Martin Luther are two important leaders who contributed greatly to this black revolution. Both of them helped to shape what America is today—society that comprised of equal rights for each and every one of the citizens. Same as W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther have the same goals that they want to achieve for the benefit of African American community, but they have different ways on how they wanted to achieve that goal.
However, the nonviolent protests and endeavors employed by African Americans in the 1960s caught the attention of individuals nationwide. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s refusal to react violently showed white Americans that African Americans were not subhuman creatures prone to violence, but humans capable of intelligence and reason. African Americans were not animals capable of only slave labor, but individuals deserving of the rights promised by the Constitution of the United States to all American citizens. In addition to the aforementioned pieces of evidence, Martin Luther King believed that violence would never lead to peace, only to more violence. He was firm and justified in his affirmation that “This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe.
Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X wanted to improve the lives of African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to use an aggressive approach, but Malcolm X wanted to use his words to get through to his community. Although neither of them agreed with the other's ideas and goals, they both wanted to fight for the same reason, African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr. was always against violence, and he thought using a nonviolent arsenal weapon, like boycotting, and believed it would help create peace with all races. The text says, "Along with the march as a weapon for change in our nonviolent arsenal must be listed the boycott."
Dr. King wanted African Americans to be free, and have the right to vote, and for blacks to have the same rights as everyone else, he also wanted peace, and for the violence to stop. Malcom X wanted a separate “nation”
Martin Luther King Jr. was famous for his philosophy of nonviolent resistance, which he believed was the most effective way to bring about social change. Malcolm X, on the other hand, began as a proponent of violent resistance, but later changed his views and advocated for nonviolent resistance as well. Despite these similarities, there were also significant differences between the two leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Christian minister and believed in the power of love, forgiveness, and nonviolence. He advocated for integration and worked to create a society where people of all races could live together in harmony.
Selene Maldonado Lopez Dr. Brandon Wolfe- Hunnicutt History 3640 27 October 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcom X The Civil Rights Movement was a period of awakening, conflict, and influence. The strength and intensity of the movement was due prominently to the poignant and prophetic discourse of its two most prominent leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. These men helped lead to create a sense of distinctiveness by expressing compacted problems to discourse, direct courses of action, and hope for a future of freedom and equality in America.
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
In America during the 1960s groups of black Americans move for a revolution in their freedom and basic rights that should be granted by the United States Constitution. In America during the 1960s during the Cold War, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both tries to fight for civil rights because of racism. Martin Luther King Jr. philosophy made the most sense for America in the 1960s because this was the time for change in societies in America, people should have worked together and unite rather than split off in separate groups completely void of each other, to not fight back when suffering at the hands by racists and those that oppose what the people yearn to achieve, through the use of nonviolence people can achieve their civil rights,
It is hard to imagine what America would be like without its freedom fighting leaders. There is no denying that the United States would not be what it is today without Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Their different approach on racism can be seen through their writing. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham Alabama and taken into custody for leading a peaceful anti-segregation march without a permit. This arrest inspired King to write a call for unity titled, “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
DBQ: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Rewrite During the 1960’s there was a greatly increased in violence in America. There were riots, bombings, racism, and discrimination. Many African American were mistreated due to the racist people who intervened the African Americans from doing anything. Two civil rights activists wanted change for African Americans and were both fighting for the same cause, civil rights.
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.