Malcolm X Vs Mlk

The civil rights movement would not have been possible without the contributions of many ordinary people. But these ordinary people could not have been organized without the skills of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Two very famous civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in particular contributed to the cause of desegregation. Though both men contributed much to the act of desegregation, these men had very different ideologies about the process of desegregation. By analyzing the two pieces and comparing how and why they are different, the differing strategies of the two men can be better understood and applied to issues of today.

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail written in April of 1963, Martin Luther King advocates

Malcolm X starts his speech by saying that all people of color should put their differences aside and focus on their shared problem of oppression. This strategy is most likely to appeal to the most people as possible by giving them a common uniting factor. Malcolm X then speaks of the need to either gain power through politics or brute force and emphasis the fact that it is a political year, increasing the urgency of dealing with the issue of segregation. He further emphasises the importance of his point by speaking of the power the African American population has because of the political division of the white Americans. Malcolm X advocates these strong messages but does not say that there necessarily needs to be violence, but rather reciprocal behavior, meaning treating nonviolence with nonviolence and violence with violence. This message is important because it shows that Malcolm X is not declaring straight warfare on the white population, but rather he is essentially putting the ball in their court. Malcolm X later talks about how the oppression of the African Americans need to be addressed on an international level and instead of an issue of civil rights, it needs to be an issue of human rights to ensure the issue is addressed. At the end, Malcolm X states that African Americans should be

MLK argues for the need to desegregation rather reluctantly, while Malcolm X has no hesitation in calling on the African American community to address the problem. MLK also is careful to explain the reasons that he is rebelling and the process of nonviolence. Malcolm X on the other hand is less cautious and simply reasons that it is necessary to act because of the oppression of black rights. In addition, with discussing justification, MLK turns to religion in explaining what is a just and unjust law, while Malcolm X keeps his entire speech completely secular. In addition, overall the entire process of desegregation according to each man is different. MLK vehemently advocates nonviolence, while Malcolm X does not shy away from the idea of violence if it is justified. Lastly, unlike Malcolm X, MLK does not mention the idea of separate black