Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X

Essay, Research Paper

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X grew up in different environments and this difference affected the way that they worked for equal rights. King was raised in a comfortable middle-class family where education was stressed. On the other hand, Malcolm X came from an underprivileged home. He was a self-taught man who received very little schooling and became great by his own intelligence and determination. Martin Luther King was born into a family whose name in Atlanta was well established. Despite segregation, Martin Luther King’s parents ensured that their child was secure and happy. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 and was raised in a completely different atmosphere than King, at a young age his house was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan and his father was murdered. His mother later had a nervous breakdown and his family was split up. He was haunted by this early nightmare for most of his life. From that time on, he was driven by hatred and a desire for revenge.

The early history of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were responsible for the different responses to American racism. Both men became daunting figures in African-American culture and had a great influence on black Americans. However, King had a more positive attitude than Malcolm X; he believed that through peaceful demonstrations and arguments, blacks would someday be able to achieve full equality with whites. Malcolm X’s despair about life was reflected in his angry, pessimistic belief that equality is impossible because whites have no moral conscience. In his learnings, and later in his teachings, Malcolm X stressed the evils of whites. King basically adopted on an integrationalist philosophy, where he felt that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. Malcolm X promoted nationalist and separatist doctrines. For most of his life, he believed that only through rebellion and force could blacks attain their rightful place in society.

Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King spread their message through powerful speeches, but their intentions were delivered in different styles and purposes. “King was basically a peaceful leader who urged non-violence to his followers. He traveled about the country giving speeches that inspired black and white listeners to work together for racial harmony.” (Archer, 139) Malcolm X, for the most part, believed that non-violence and

integration was a trick by the whites to keep blacks in their places. He was furious at white racism and encouraged his followers through his speeches to rise up and protest against their white enemies. (Haley, 43) After Malcolm X broke away from Elijah Mohammed, this change was reflected more in his speeches. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King’s childhood.s had powerful influences on the men and their speeches.

Malcolm X was brought up in an atmosphere of violence. During his childhood, Malcolm X suffered not only from abuse by whites, but also from his family. His father beat his mother and his mother beat him. (Haley, 4) His mother was forced to raise eight children during the depression times. After his mother had a mental breakdown, the children were all placed in foster homes. Malcolm X’s resentment was increased as he suffered through the cruelties of mixed races schooling. He was an intelligent student who shared the same dream of being a lawyer with Martin Luther King, but Malcolm X’s anger and pain caused him to drop out of school. He started to use cocaine and set up a burglary ring to support his bad habit. Malcolm X’s hostility and promotion of violence as a way of getting change was well established in his childhood.

Martin Luther King grew up in a completely different situation. He was a smart student and skipped two grades before entering a classy college at the age of 15. He was the class valedictorian and had an A average. King paraded his graduation present, a new green Chevrolet in front his fellow graduates. He was raised in the perfect environment where dreams and love were possible. King and Malcolm X’s childhood.s are “a study in polarity.” (Archer, 46) While Malcolm X was raised in nightmarish conditions, King’s home was almost perfect. He was raised in a comfortable middle-class home where strong values nurtured his sense of self-worth. (Archer, 92) Many people have admired Malcolm X and Martin Luther King for the way that they preached. “Both King and Malcolm X promoted self-knowledge and respect for one’s history and culture as the basis for unity.” (Archer, 53) Other than the fact that they were similar in those ways, they also had many differences that people admired, both in belief and speech. Malcolm X was known to many as an extremist. Most of the time that he spent as an Islamic minister, he preached about separatism between blacks and whites. He also preached about Black Nationalism, and as some would call it, black supremacy.

Important people had misled Malcolm X throughout his whole life. This is shown clearest at the time when he broke away from the black Muslim party, when he finally realized that they were misleading him by telling him that separatism between blacks and whites is the only way to go. They also misled him by telling him that

separatism is a part of the Islamic religion. Malcolm X’s life was referred to as a nightmare because he was abused and haunted by both blacks and whites. Malcolm X blamed many of