Morgan Mcbride
Morgan McBride
History 1302
Professor Johnson
April 15, 2012
Malcolm X vs. MLK Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s acts of violence really hurt the nation when it came to individuals treating others equally. Having a different skin color really was a huge deal for our nation, especially in the south. Not only wanting to put an end to the racism and the horrible treatments for the blacks and poor whites, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to implement the most successful way to end racism. The philosophies and theories of these two men will soon be presented and proven which man was more successful. When it comes Malcolm X’s, also known as El- Hajj Malik El- Shabazz, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activists, his approach was very bitter towards the situation. The way he was raised and brought up made him very angry towards the whites and how they treated him. His philosophy when putting an end to racism leaned more towards being violent rather than killing people with kindness and nonviolent methods. Malcolm once said,
“I am Muslim, because it’s a religion that teaches you an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It teaches you to respect everybody, and treat everybody right. But it also teaches you if someone steps on your toe, chop off his or her foot. And I carry my religious axe with me all the time” (Malcolm).
This just shows how Malcolm strongly disagrees with the nonviolence methods and thinks retaliation is the way to go, (which we all know that never solves anything). Malcolm had three categories to his philosophy, political philosophy, economic philosophy, and social philosophy. Political philosophy is where “the black man should control the politics of his own community.” Economic Philosophy is where “the black man should have a hand in controlling the economy of the so-called negro community.” And Social philosophy is where “instead of the black man trying to force himself into the society of the white man, we should be
History 1302
Professor Johnson
April 15, 2012
Malcolm X vs. MLK Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s acts of violence really hurt the nation when it came to individuals treating others equally. Having a different skin color really was a huge deal for our nation, especially in the south. Not only wanting to put an end to the racism and the horrible treatments for the blacks and poor whites, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to implement the most successful way to end racism. The philosophies and theories of these two men will soon be presented and proven which man was more successful. When it comes Malcolm X’s, also known as El- Hajj Malik El- Shabazz, an African American Muslim minister and human rights activists, his approach was very bitter towards the situation. The way he was raised and brought up made him very angry towards the whites and how they treated him. His philosophy when putting an end to racism leaned more towards being violent rather than killing people with kindness and nonviolent methods. Malcolm once said,
“I am Muslim, because it’s a religion that teaches you an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It teaches you to respect everybody, and treat everybody right. But it also teaches you if someone steps on your toe, chop off his or her foot. And I carry my religious axe with me all the time” (Malcolm).
This just shows how Malcolm strongly disagrees with the nonviolence methods and thinks retaliation is the way to go, (which we all know that never solves anything). Malcolm had three categories to his philosophy, political philosophy, economic philosophy, and social philosophy. Political philosophy is where “the black man should control the politics of his own community.” Economic Philosophy is where “the black man should have a hand in controlling the economy of the so-called negro community.” And Social philosophy is where “instead of the black man trying to force himself into the society of the white man, we should be