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Comparing Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X

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Comparing Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X
Reading the book of David Howard-Pitney’s Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s we can deduce the situation in the United States during the sixties. The most important leaders of the Civil Rights movements were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. They were the representatives of the Afro-American revolt against discrimination and racism. The two leaders shared the same goal but differed in their approaches. Martin Luther King was a moderate leader, while Malcom X was considered more “radical.”
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929) was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother was a teacher and his father a pastor. Martin started his mission against the discrimination in 1935 when two of his friends refused to play with him for the color of his skin. He went to their house asking their mum if his “friends” can come out to play. The answer of their mum was alarmed, she said that her children cannot go out because he is black. That was only one of the acts of discrimination that happened during his life. He could not forget that day. Another important moment that involved him in the battle for the civil rights happened in the bus. The driver of the bus asked him and his professor (both black) to
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because he used a non-violent resistance in order to get equality between whites and blacks. On the other hand, Malcolm X used a more radical and activist prospection to fight for the Afro-American equality. Malcolm involved the Black people in a sort of war against the white, while Martin Luther King, Jr. did not want a war but only to fight the injustice. King was very influential and during his life received the Nobel Prize for peace. He made plenty of changes in favor of the black people and justice. He took inspiration from Gandhi’s doctrines. King thought that the best method to fight the discrimination was with non-violence and communication, using peace and

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