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Comparing The Views Of Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X In The 1960s

694 Words3 Pages

Is the answer to discrimination violence, or is peace the way to go? During the 1960s, African-Americans were being discriminated against and wanted a change. They created the Civil Rights Movement to help gain their equal rights. Two main Civil Rights leaders of the 60s were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Dr. King believed that African Americans could receive their rights by peacefully protesting. Malcolm X believed that in order for African Americans to receive equality, they had to take it by force using violence. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, the partakers of the Civil Rights Movement changed their views on how to achieve equality, although they faced multiple challenges, but throughout these difficulties I believed that Malcolm …show more content…

King died they turned to violence. In Document 6 Kathleen Neal Cleaver says, “Because once King was murdered, in April ‘68, that kind of ended any public commitment to nonviolent change.” The nonviolent protesters decided to change their ways because they realized that peaceful protests weren’t working, which resolved in Dr. King’s death. “ It was like, Well we tried that, and that’s what happened.” In Document 2 Bob Lucas states, “After Dr. King left the city in late August of 1966, having failed really in Chicago, we began to notice a wider split between the blacks and the whites in the civil rights movement.” Dr. King’s philosophy of peace didn’t work in Chicago, which caused them to turn away from their nonviolent movement and embrace Malcolm X’s philosophy. Many African-Americans decided to change to violent acts because they believed that peaceful protests weren’t making a difference, and violence would be the quickest way to bring …show more content…

In Document 1 Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party states, “We had seen Martin Luther King come in an effort to calm the people, and we had seen his philosophy of nonviolence rejected.” After Dr. King’s attempt and failure to spread his philosophy to the Watts community, Newton began to question the power of nonviolence. “We recognized that the rising consciousness of Black people was almost at the point of explosion.” In Document 6 Kathleen Neal Cleaver says, “Because even nonviolent change was violently rejected, So it was like the Panthers were all of a sudden thrust into the forefront of being the alternative…” Dr. King’s death was an opening for the Black Panthers to spread their violent beliefs. Since it happened almost immediately after King’s death, this proves that Dr King’s philosophy of peace wasn’t

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