Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Who Is Closer to Success?

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Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are remembered for their outstanding fight for civil rights in the United States at a time when the black community faced oppression and inequality in different ways. The two activists had a large following due to their ability to communicate passionately about their vision for an empowered black community. The ultimate goal for both Martin and Malcolm was to advance respect and pride amongst African Americans. However, Malcolm X used violence while King used peaceful methods towards the achievement of their shared objective. King’s approach stood the best chance to solve the inequality issues that the black community faced at the time.

Martin Luther King Jr. held that people were equal in the eyes of God and needed to be treated as such according to the Constitution. In the famous speech, I Have a Dream, he says, “All men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”¹. He maintained that for the country to remain united and advance a common course, equality was a necessity that could not be overlooked. Therefore, he led millions of Black Americans to agitate for equality through peaceful means. During the Nobel Lecture in 1964, King retaliated that he would fight injustice through nonviolence because the goal was to have a united nation².

As such, he urged his followers to love and pray for their adversaries and persecutors. Therefore, King’s strategies included non-violent freedom marches, silent protests, and passionate speeches against injustice. He ascertained that violence could never achieve equality as it only expressed hatred and the lack of God’s love. King was consistent with his belief in non-violence and even after his home was bombed and his family threatened with death, he remained steadfast by maintaining that only love could counter such hatred³. In his speeches, he retaliated that his approach would deliver the desired results at the end. He knew that it would take time for the white community to change its prejudice towards its black counterparts and ultimately achieve a united country.

On the contrary, Malcolm X wanted immediate results and he believed such could only be achieved through violence. He argued that King’s approach was soft and could not change the prejudiced white community even in the long term⁴. In addition, Malcolm X did not have a vision of a united society as he called for the separation of whites and blacks. In an interview with Eleanor Fish in 1961, he said that the black community was already alienated hence the need to have separate and independent societies⁵. This aspect was in contrast with King’s view of a harmonious nation. Malcolm X was a committed member of the Nation of Islam, which advocated the segregation of whites and blacks and the formation of an Afro-American homeland in the US⁶. As such, the black community needed to unite, gain power and emancipate itself from the captivity of white ideologies. In Malcolm’s eyes, freedom for the black community could not be handed or won by overlooking injustice and promoting peace. It had to be taken forcefully and thus violence was the only way out.

Therefore, in as much as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X wanted the emancipation of the black community, they chose different routes towards that goal. I believe that King’s strategy offered a greater likelihood of success because America needed to remain united for the realization of equal rights for both whites and blacks. In addition, King has been vindicated in contemporary times as the country continues to face its challenges through peace and consensus. Malcolm X’s separationist beliefs would have broken the country.

Bibliography

“Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech.” American History. Web.

Carson, Clayborne. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Warner Books, 2001.

Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

“Malcolm X.” Malcolm-X Files Blogspot, Web.

“Martin Luther King Jr.” Nobel Prize Lectures. Web.

Footnotes

“Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech,” Web.
“Martin Luther King Jr,” Nobel Prize Lectures. Web.
Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Warner Books, 2001.
David Howard-Pitney. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.
“Malcolm X,” Malcolm-X Files Blogspot, Web.
David Howard-Pitney. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

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Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Who Is Closer to Success?

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