Comparison of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement

Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, many leaders emerged that captured the attention of the American public. During this period, the leaders' used different tactics in order to achieve change. Of two of the better-known leaders, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., the latter had a more positive influence in the progress of the movement.

Each of these two leaders had different views on how to go about gaining freedom. While King believed a peaceful means would allow the blacks to achieve equality with the white Americans, Malcolm X took a more pessimistic approach. He believed achieving equality was nearly impossible and preached a more separatist doctrine. Each man's beliefs were formed in their youth.

King was raised in a middle-class home where his parents knew the value of a good education. The environment was one filled with dreams, love and strong values where he could grow and mature with confidence. On the contrary, X's childhood was not as pleasant. Coming from an underprivileged home, he had little schooling and instead turned to drugs. The abuse he saw from his father, who was later murdered at the hands of a white man, and the abuse he suffered, under his mother would be crucial in his later actions. One of Malcolm X's first vivid memories was of when his home was being burned by the Ku Klux Klan. These circumstances at home would lead to the anger and hate mustering in Malcolm that would be expressed later in his life.

These differences in the upbringing are largely responsible for the separate approaches in how they responded to the issue of racism. Martin Luther King was to many calm and idealistic. Non-violence and encouragement was key in his philosophy of integration. "King urged blacks to win their r...

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... the upbringing of these two important men had a direct effect on the way they sought out freedom and equality for black America. Malcolm's upbringing in violence and the city led him to be a bigger influence in the urban north, while King's well-rounded calmness helped him to reach the middle classes. Having the diversity of the two men helped to show the American public exactly what they were afraid of in Malcolm X, the angry black man, and exactly what was needed, in King, change. When the Movement was showing little immediate change under King, many joined the forces of Malcolm. This change resulted in disunity. The faces of these figureheads could be seen as intimidating to the American public. Change was necessary and if you didn't want to deal with the calm and respectful King, the change would come in dealing with the militant Malcolm. "By any means necessary"