Tiara Williams Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and leader in the African- American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. Dr. King has become a national icon. Dr. King was a Baptist minister. Dr. King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. He also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his ” l Have a Dream” speech.
There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest speakers in American history. Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925. Mr. X was an African- American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers, he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans. He was accused of preaching racism, black supremacy, and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history. Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both very intellectual men.
Both were outspoken and wanted justice to be served. Yes, both wanted Justice to be served, but in different ways. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two people with totally different up- bringing. King was brought up by a wealthy family, whom was very educated, and had a great chance at life. Malcolm X was brought up very poor. He had to learn to defend himself against racist white children. He was taken from his father, whom was later found dead. His father was murdered by a white mob. His mother became mentally ill so he was sent to a foster home. different perspectives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Over 20, 000 people came to march from Washington to the Lincoln memorial in Washington D. C. This march is known to be one of Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s greatest accomplishments throughout his life. Even in a time of violence, King would never act out. King wanted all the races to come together. He wanted the hatred and violence to be put to a halt. Malcolm X had a different perspective regarding the march. He felt that integration would destroy the black and the white man. He felt that American blacks should be more concerned with helping each other. He felt blacks should start by giving the same race self-respect first.
He did not agree with what King had to say, he felt that kings dream was not a dream but a nightmare. In the debate of Malcolm X and Dr. King Malcolm stated that he felt like Dr. King was paid by the white man. He felt like the act of being non violet was being defense less. Malcolm X felt like the police and the KKK were one Just different uniform. Malcolm X described Dr. King in those times as a modern day ” Uncle Tom”, teaching the black man to be defense less. King stated that nonviolence resentence is reacting in a strong and determining matter. Malcolm felt that King way was sociology unrealistic.
Kings approach to equality was non-violent protesting, speaking out for non-violence, passive resistance, and what he called, ” weapons of love”. suspicious of whites, willing to use ” by any means necessary’ to achieve equality. He was a segregationist until he went to Mecca and realized the Kings way was realistic. The unity that they both share is that they both wanted equal rights for African Americans they Just went down different paths to receive those rights. Dr. King fought for everybody. Malcolm X only fought for his people and wanted Justice for hat happened to them.
Dr. King biggest obstacle was prejudice. Many white people thought of blacks as generally inferior. They certainly did not want blacks to be seen much. Blacks were told, in no uncertain terms, to get to the back of the bus and only use rest rooms, drinking fountains, etc. , marked for colored people. Even many of the less-prejudiced white people thought that blacks were fine as long as they kept in their place. After a while his dream of overcoming the system became a reality. For a long time blacks were only allowed to play in nigger leagues as they called them.
This eant they were on teams with other blacks and only played against other blacks. This was until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Having a black player playing alongside whites was at the least a giant symbol. The next thing was the de- segregation of the military. During World War II, blacks were drafted, but were sent to black-only units, such as the Tuskegee Air Men. Harry Truman ended the practice of black-only units, and demanded that the U. S. armed forces accept blacks as full members. One of the biggest and favorite accomplishments was when desegregation of schools took place.
This was known as Brown v. Board of Education. The previous standard had come from a case called Plessey v. Ferguson, which held that separate but equal schools for blacks was acceptable. Brown v. Board Of Education said that separate schools were inherently unequal. There were many fights in the 50s and 60s concerning school desegregation, but the courts kept demanding that school systems abandon segregation and start integrating black students alongside white students. Legislation was another thing that passed on the federal level which supported civil rights.
Previously, the pattern had been to hold hat states had the right to determine such things, and that the federal government could only demand such rights when people crossed state lines. Congress disagreed, and the courts upheld Congress’s interpretation that the federal government had some right to proclaim certain minimum rights to be granted to all U. S. citizens, rights which the states must uphold. Dr. Kings non-violent methods had the ability to not only influence people of color, but also people in positions of power, including President Kennedy. During the time that Dr. King fought for civil rights, the Civil
Rights Act was passed; buses, schools, and lunch counters were desegregated Dr. King’s efforts gave the Civil Rights Movement national and worldwide attention, lessening the segregation gap between people of color and white Americans. Dr. King was successful in using nonviolence as an effective tool to battle racial discrimination to achieve Justice Martin Luther King, Jr. , was not only a preacher but a teacher. He was also an organizer. He came to the aid of a woman, Rosa Parks, who had refused to go to the back of the bus, so that a white person could have her seat in the front of the bus.
She was arrested and Jailed, and Dr. King organized a march in her support. The march showed that there were a many people who were supporting Mrs. Parks in her struggle. It became a rallying point for people. Before Since the courts were still working out whether the federal government had the right to make such a declaration, activists concentrated on intercity busses which crossed state lines, since the federal government certainly had Jurisdiction there. People known as the ” freedom riders” would make certain that black people could ride busses. Dr. King kept organizing gatherings, mostly marches.
There were always speeches connected with these gatherings. They were peaceful, and never advocated the use of violence. Dr. King advocated using the law and the power of voting to create change. Thanks to Dr. King and others of the civil rights movement, much has changed. Malcolm X was known for his speeches as well. One of his most famous speeches was The Ballot or the Bullet. It concentrated on how Blacks should fght for civil-rights in America. He emphasizes the importance of voting as a solution to ending discrimination against Blacks. He addresses both the poor voting decisions nd also the denial of legitimate voting rights to Blacks.
Because elections had been so narrowly decided in recent elections, the Black vote is the deciding factor in elections. When candidates promise to pass favorable legislation, Blacks must hold them accountable in elections. Whites also have prevented Blacks in the electoral process. In the north, white politicians took over the voting lines when blacks are a majority in a voting district to prevent Blacks from being elected. In the south, blacks were outright denied voting privileges. Malcolm X says that either ” the ballot or the ullet” will come next in the civil rights struggle.
This means that government must allow Blacks to legitimately vote or else violence will be their means to influence government. A second solution to the civil rights struggle is to change the discrimination of Blacks from a civil rights issue to a human rights issue. This would allow blacks to take their case to the United Nations. The UN has a committee which deals with human rights and blacks could also address the general assembly. Currently dealing with discrimination as a civil rights issue makes it an American problem which America should solve.
By changing this to a human rights issue, the world can support the advancement of Blacks in America instead of change having to come domestically. Malcolm X argues for these solutions from a Black Nationalist prospective. Black Nationalism, also known as black separatism, is a political and social movement which seeks to acquire economic power and create a sense of community among Blacks. Black Nationalism is anti-assimilation, meaning that it is not their goal to fully integrate into white American society; Blacks should own their own businesses and have their own politicians in their communities.
I feel that in this speech Malcolm X advocates liberal ideas. Because government is a contract with the people and the purpose of government is to secure everyone individual rights, people have the right to rebel if the government violates the contract. As one can see both men overcame things and made history by trying to do so. They fought for what they thought was right and had a certain hope or dream for the future for their race. Dr. King wanted peace amongst everyone. He had a dream that the word would one day be equal and not Judge by the color of their skin, but by the context of their eart.
Malcolm X dream wasn’t to be equal but retaliate to what was done to the people of color. His approach was to be violet by any means necessary. One could not blame Malcolm X for having that mentality because of how he was brought up and King Jr. and Malcolm X dreams became a reality that we are still living today. In my opinion I feel that MLK was a better more prominent advocate for the Civil Rights Movement. I feel this way because he was a peaceful leader, he was always for a non- violence approach with handling things, and he wanted everyone, all races to come together and form equality.
