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How Important Was Martin Luther King Compared to Malcolm X? Essay Example

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How Important Was Martin Luther King Compared to Malcolm X? Essay Example
How important was Martin Luther King compared to Malcolm X?

During the 1920’s/1930’s, black Americans faced a huge amount of discrimination from the whites and found if very difficult to achieve civil rights. They were at one stage deprived of the right to vote, not being entitled to the same things as whites, and not going to the same schools as whites. In order for blacks to achieve civil rights they needed someone to follow, they needed a leader. Many black leaders did emerge for the fight of civil rights. Two of the most powerful influential leaders of the twentieth century were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. These two leaders had different methods and strategies, and very different views towards white people, but fought for the same thing.

Martin Luther King was a pacifist, as he strongly disagreed in the use of any violence. This is made clear in source four, which is an example of what King achieved, in a peaceful protest.
This source is from the civil rights movement, and it is about the incident of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was travelling on a local bus when a white woman asked her to give up her seat, and she refused, this is because she was ‘tired of giving in’ to racism. She was then arrested later that day. Martin Luther King then decided to lead a boycott of buses, which is when King first step into leading a civil rights movement, raising his profile as a leader, and his importance into the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X believed in violence, and criticized King’s beliefs and methods. This is because he felt that King wasn’t doing enough for the black community, and that violence would make it happen faster. In source 14, Malcolm X gives his opinions on violence and non violence, ‘You haven’t got a revelation that doesn’t involve bloodshed. And you’re afraid to bleed. I said, you’re afraid to bleed.’ It could be argued that Malcolm feels that most black people are cowardly and are failing to stand up for themselves. He also believes

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