Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Would African Americans be better off had they peacefully separated themselves from the white Americans? If yes, please state why. If No, please state why. Use examples from their writings to support your argument.

INTRODUCTION

Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr were among the key proponents of the freedom of the Black Americans. They took part in fighting for freedom of the Black race in America in 1960. However, the two were rivals and had different opinions on how the blacks were supposed to get their freedom. Malcolm was a radical who stood for the idea that Blacks would have to fight for their well-being while Luther was for the idea that Blacks peacefully seek separation from the Whites. They were both opposed to each other’s idea but had respect as leaders of the blacks. While King was a Christian leader, Malcolm was a staunch follower of Islam serving under Elijah Muhammad in the Nation of Islam[NOI] as a spokesman. The Nation of Islam strongly opposed America with its Christianity.  But the two had a common goal of liberating the African Americans from oppression by the White Americans(X, 1965)

In America, the blacks had been denied rights to vote, use public means of transport, use vehicles that they wanted to as well as riding in trains among many others. This brought the need for them to be liberated from the discrimination they were going through. Therefore, according to Malcolm, Martin Luther King, Jr was wrong to be encouraging African Americans to seek peaceful negotiation with the whites. His movement was made up of radical Muslims who believed in fighting for their freedom. He claimed that Luther was bowing to the whites by being part of the Racial Liberation Movement.

The radical moves shown by Malcom led to his assassination on 21^st February 1965, leading to loss of a great leader of the Black race in America according to King Luther. On the other hand, Luther did not buy Malcolm’s idea of being radical, and during his burial, he said that he felt sorry for the loss of such a great icon in the course of liberating blacks although he did not like the idea that he used to point problems without giving solutions to them. Later on in April 4^th 1968 Martin Luther was also assassinated. This marked the loss of two great Black Activists in America (Boyd, 2017)..

According to Malcolm’s autobiography, both Luther and he had the same goal of making Blacks free. Only their approaches were different, but they all knew that they were headed to the same fatal head. While Luther’s gospel seems to be defenceless against the blacks, Malcolm openly said that they were not supposed to trust white people. He had learnt not to trust the whites as he had lost his parents in their hands.

CONCLUSION

Depending on the course taken by their leaders, the Africans fought for their freedom in America. However, in my view, Africans would instead have sought to separate from the Americans peacefully rather than being violent. This is because the leader of the Radical Black Muslims was assassinated early in 1965 due to his moves towards liberating the Black Americans. Although his zeal towards speaking up for the blacks was admired by many Black people and he taught them that they had a right to make their own decisions, his work could later not have borne good fruits as before his death he had come into terms with Martin Luther’s idea of peacefully demanding for the rights of the Black Race in America.

The two had met only once in their lifetime before the assassination of Malcolm. After the death of their leader, the Black Muslims could not continue with their quest for freedom in violent ways. The Blacks had to adopt Luther’s method, which advocated for talks with the whites on how to accept Black Americans as the citizens like any other and let them enjoy the same privileges like Whites. Luther’s famous speech “I have a dream’’ was and has always been of great inspiration to the people.  In his speech, he called for peace and equality among all people in America.

The continued non-violent demonstrations that were led by Martin King can be attributed to the freedom that was finally attained by the Blacks in America. He talked about standing by the steps of Lincoln Memorial, who had abolished the institution of slavery in America. The winning of the Nobel Peace Prize by king in 1964 elevated his personality, drawing attention globally on the violation of the Blacks. This drew more supporters who passed the Voting Rights Acts making Blacks be able to vote. Before he was killed the Blacks in America had finally been freed from the oppression by the whites. This made Martin Luther King, Jr, a very important person in the History of Black Americans and America in general. His non-violent method of advocating for the rights of African Americans has borne fruits up to date. Both the White and Black Americans co-exist peacefully in the America and they all have same rights and are treated equally. The ‘dream’ has been fulfilled.(HISTORY.COM.EDITORS, 2020)

REFERENCES

Boyd, H. (2017, July 19). Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Retrieved from ALJAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/face-to-face/2017/07/malcolm-martin-luther-king-170709072506322.html

HISTORY.COM.EDITORS. (2020, Feb 21). Martin Luther King, Jr. Retrieved from HISTORY: https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr

X, M. (1965, February 21). The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Retrieved from Stanford University: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/malcolm-x