Martin Luther King vs Malcolm X Essay Example
MLK vs. X
Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were both central figures as leaders in the civil rights movement of the nineteen sixties. Although both leaders were striving towards the same goal of achieving equality, they both took different approaches to accomplishing their goals. This is evident through Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail, and Malcolm X's speech The Ballot Or The Bullet. Martin Luther King Jr felt the best way to reach racial equality was to keep faith in America. His approach was to preach the words of the Christianity through nonviolent protests, while refusing to conform to laws which provided rights and privileges to whites only. Malcolm X differed from Dr. King in that he was a Muslim that believed that change needed to be invoked through politics, claiming that America had failed African Americans through their inability to treat them like equal citizens. He believed that African Americans needed to stand up for themselves and meet with opposition preferably nonviolently, but violently if provoked to do so. Although both had opposing leadership styles, they both shared a lack of patience to sit around and wait for change to eventually happen. They both refused to be treated like second class citizens any longer and decided to make a drastic change. Martin Luther King Jr. was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who traveled across the south attending to injustices that were occurring throughout. Martin Luther King stated the structure of his nonviolent campaign included "Four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices were alive; (2) Negotiation; (3) self-purification; and (4) direct action."(pg59) Martin Luther King's strategy was to resolve civil rights violations by accompanying them in person to protest the injustices that were occurring. He believed that if he could portray the ignorance of racial segregation as well as the suffering that accompanied
Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were both central figures as leaders in the civil rights movement of the nineteen sixties. Although both leaders were striving towards the same goal of achieving equality, they both took different approaches to accomplishing their goals. This is evident through Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail, and Malcolm X's speech The Ballot Or The Bullet. Martin Luther King Jr felt the best way to reach racial equality was to keep faith in America. His approach was to preach the words of the Christianity through nonviolent protests, while refusing to conform to laws which provided rights and privileges to whites only. Malcolm X differed from Dr. King in that he was a Muslim that believed that change needed to be invoked through politics, claiming that America had failed African Americans through their inability to treat them like equal citizens. He believed that African Americans needed to stand up for themselves and meet with opposition preferably nonviolently, but violently if provoked to do so. Although both had opposing leadership styles, they both shared a lack of patience to sit around and wait for change to eventually happen. They both refused to be treated like second class citizens any longer and decided to make a drastic change. Martin Luther King Jr. was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who traveled across the south attending to injustices that were occurring throughout. Martin Luther King stated the structure of his nonviolent campaign included "Four basic steps: (1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices were alive; (2) Negotiation; (3) self-purification; and (4) direct action."(pg59) Martin Luther King's strategy was to resolve civil rights violations by accompanying them in person to protest the injustices that were occurring. He believed that if he could portray the ignorance of racial segregation as well as the suffering that accompanied