Compare And Contrast Malcolm X And Mlk In The Civil Rights Movement

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Young, proud, and bold, these were the adjectives that were used to describe Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. However, these were also the only similarities that these two shared, because while Martin, a role model who believed in Gandhi, led his people with love and the thought of non-violence in both political and social aspects, Malcolm was a man of the streets, who believed in Allah and tried to advocate changing America by any means necessary. With that being said, both achieved dramatic success in their career, as Martin’s S.C.L.C. soon became a toon for African Americans to voice their opinions while Malcolm’s O.A.A.U. became a powerful political force in a just a short period of time. In the end, even though both philosophies were great, Malcolm’s made the most sense for America in the 1960s because it presented a more realistic look of life, and at the same time, showed Malcolm’s respect for both White and African Americans. To be more specific, throughout his whole life, Malcolm always showed that he was a realist. For instance, in The Young Socialist interview on January 18,1965, Malcolm said, “I don’t favor violence...But I’m also a realist. The only people who asked to be nonviolent are black people… I don’t go along with anyone who wants to teach our people violence until someone at the same time is teaching our enemy to be violent. I believe we should protect ourselves when we are attacked by racist”. This evidence proves that Malcolm wasn’t fond of the idea of using violence as a toon to reach his goals, but with the constant attacks on African Americans and the fact that none of them fought back, he had to do the best thing that he could. Furthermore, he realized that the marches, the protests, and the sacrifices couldn’t change the prejudices that fast, so, they had to start to protect themselves if they want anything to happen because if there is no one left to fight for the rights, then nothing would change. Also, this shows that Malcolm’s philosophy was better because he dared to take direct actions instead of doing speeches or agreements, which wouldn’t help anyone. In short, by being daring and genuine, Malcolm showed that his opinion made more sense in this time period. Next, by showing his respect to the Whites, Malcolm showed that his idea was better. For example, in his autobiography, he said,“Work in conjunction with us - each of us working among our own kind...We will completely respect our white co-workers...We will give them every credit...Working separately, the sincere Whites and sincere Blacks actually will be working together”. In other words, Malcolm said that he had his biggest respect to the Whites, but unfortunately, the society at the time didn’t give him and his people any chance to display that love, so, they had to work separate for the best. With this in mind, Malcolm …show more content…
To point out, the Basic Unity Program of the OAAU, which was founded by Malcolm X, said,“The organization will devise original educational methods and procedures...We encourage Afro-Americans themselves to establish educational workshops, liberation schools and childcare centers in Afro-American communities”. Furthermore, written in The Last Years of Malcolm X: Evolution of a Revolutionary by George Breitman in 1967, it said that,“ We have to learn how to own and operate the businesses...We have to learn the importance of spending money...We have to learn how to control his own economy”. These evidences show that first of all, Malcolm was all about his people, all about his race, and all about the safety and the evolution of them. Also, it also proves that Malcolm fought so that his kids would have a better future, that they would have the best education that they could have. With this in mind, remembered that Martin’s philosophy was all about the sacrifices that people would make to have a better life, meaning that Martin willing to lose people to reach his goals while Malcolm tried his best to reduce the casualty to its minimum to reach his goals. In brief, Malcolm’s philosophy suited the time best because it was all about his people, all about their benefits, not about

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