Malcolm X's Role In The Civil Rights Movement

The attainment of Civil Rights by African-Americans was a result of inspiration and ideological guidance provided by African-American leaders but was mostly due to the planned legal actions carried out by organizations. Even though the leaders helped the publicity of the events, most of the work was done through local leaders who aided the advancement of Civil Rights. During the Civil Rights movement, the majority of African Americans were victims of discrimination, and so they looked up to someone to represent them. Martin Luther King who was willing to speak on the behalf of all African-Americans was famous for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a result of which buses could no longer be segregated under the 1957 Supreme Court ruling.
[1] At the 1963 March on Washington, King made his famous speech "I have a dream" through which he reached out to both blacks and whites by pleading that everyone should be allowed to be a part of the American Dream and share equal Rights. The speech built a momentum for Civil Rights legislation by inspiring fellow African-Americans to demand Civil Rights through peaceful demonstration. [2] Furthermore, Marcus Garvey, who is believed to give rise to the Civil Rights movement in the US, started a Pan-Africanism movement against the ill-treatment of blacks all over the world. United Negro Improvement Association and the Black Star Line were formed, thus creating stronger connections between African Americans and persuading them to work harder to improve their economic status. [3] The legacy of Garvey stretches from encouraging other leaders such as Malcolm X to provoking black pride movement known as Black is Beautiful in the 1960s, by psychologically liberating African-Americans from the ideas of inferiority. [4] It fueled their racial pride and changed their perception of the society where white people were dominating, which in turn caused him to be the leading intellectual during Harlem Renaissance. During Harlem Renaissance, African-American writers have been challenging discrimination and criticizing racism. The community was organized to advance its cause as more young people saw education as means of battling discrimination and enrolled into colleges.
Nonetheless, not all leaders believed in non-violent methods of protest.
Malcolm X was bitterly critical of King’s methods and believed that the Civil Rights movement held back African-Americans. He wanted to see them rise up and create their own separate state in the USA, by force if necessary due to his ideological belief that "it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks". [5] Another case which undermined the Civil Rights movement due to the differences in ideologies was Garvey's urge for African-Americans to move back to Africa, instead of convincing the masses that they could secure their Rights in a country where they were a minority. [4] "Black is Beautiful" also contributed to the division among African-Americans as those with fairer skin tone would feel less desirable in the community. Similarly, the significance of Martin Luther King can be challenged through considering the fact that The Montgomery bus boycott began in December 1955 as the result of independent and spontaneous act initiated by Rosa Parks who was an officer of the local NAACP chapter, not with a demand for integrating the buses. [6] Later, Women's Political Council asked King to serve as their spokesman in order to gain more publicity for the event, and this is confirmed by King's words that "this movement will not stop" if he stopped.
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It is also important to note that the leaders specifically appealed when the need was the greatest.
For instance, Garveyism encouraged a sense of unity in times of social and political oppression in the early 20th century during times when African nations were on the verge of rebellion against colonization and the First World War masses agitated for freedom. In America, African-Americans obtained employment in the war industries and possessed money necessary to finance the movement. [3] Moreover, crucial for Civil Rights movement events like Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka case, the landmark lawsuit that ended the legal segregation of schools in America, took place without the Civil Rights leaders. There was more direct action than seen from the impact of the leaders as a result of which the Supreme Court decreed that African-Americans had the right to the same quality of graduate education as white Americans because of the efforts of Thurgood Marshall who worked as a lawyer for the NAACP. [8] A study compiled by the NAACP reported 3,224 cases of lynching of African-Americans between 1889 and 1919, aiming to put an end to brutality. [9] Individuals like Philip Randolph also did not get as much media coverage and popularity despite the fact that initially the March on Washington was planned by Randolph who later shared the stage with Martin Luther King. [10] He managed to convince President Truman to issue a 1948 executive order banning racial segregation in the US
Armed Forces, which was a massive leap towards obtaining Civil Rights as African-American officers had equal opportunities and could be promoted for their service rather than skin colour, potentially commanding over white soldiers. [11] This confirms that even though African-American leaders were largely a source of inspiration for the Civil Rights movement, the movement would still take place as discrimination challenged the lives of African-Americans and persuaded them to seek change. Therefore, the attainment of Civil Rights by African-Americans in the years 1863 to 1965 was not mostly due to the actions of individual African-American leaders as there was division among the leaders themselves, who if worked together would have had an even greater impact on the society. The majority of the actions were carried out by local leaders and organizations in order to tackle issues such as lynching, which then continued into challenging racial inequality in everyday life through the legal system.