Martin Luther King Jr. vs Malcolm X: Different Approaches to Civil Rights

Amazing Men Fighting for Equality

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the most well known African American Leaders in the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist minister, a social activist, and later became a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, while Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister and also a human rights activist. They used different tactics for violence to achieve their goals, and they also had different beliefs for the roles of whites in the Civil RIghts Movement.

Martin Luther King Jr led the group (SCLC) which was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, it was founded because of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The reason the Montgomery Bus Boycott occurred was due to Rosa Parks being arrested after she refused to give up her seat to a white man on the bus. Malcolm X became a spokesperson for the group Nation of Islam it was a religious movement that also expressed black pride and black nationalism. Then also later lead the group (OAAU),which was the Organization

of African American Unity.
What did Martin Luther King jr.

and Malcolm X believe in? Martin Luther King jr. came from a Christian background, he believed in peaceful demonstrations, acting with love and staying calm. And by doing so he promoted equality through nonviolent ways of protest and actions.His beliefs also included that all people were created equal, and that all people should be allowed the same opportunities regardless of color. He based a lot of his beliefs on the foundation of his religion due to his father being a preacher, and most of his father’s beliefs were passed down to him.

While Malcolm X and MLK were both civil rights activist they had some differences in their belief system, Malcolm X believed in the separation of black and white americans, and disliked integration. He was more interested in “ African American’s gaining control of their own lives”, and he also promoted black nationalism, which included political, economic, and social

philosophy.
Martin Luther King Jr. led a famous city wide boycott, at the age of 26 years old, and the boycott occurred because Rosa Parks a black woman would not give up her seat on a public transit bus for a white man, and was later arrested for the incident. To promote the boycott of public transportation in Montgomery, they sent out flyers to people in the community willing to make a stand. And for 382 days this meant the boycott would cause harassment, intimidation and violence towards the African American community in Montgomery, and his house was even attacked due to the boycott.They suffered many losses in the case, in the end the city lifted the law mandating segregated public transportation.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most significant speeches in history in efforts to end racism in the U.S. He gave this speech in Washington D.C on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In the spring before the speech was given, he organized a demonstration in Alabama, but instead this backfired and the city police turned on the demonstration attacking the crowds with dogs and firehoses, and king was arrested as well with many more civil rights supporters. This drew nationwide attention on the subject of mistreatment and inequality for African Americans. King wrote the speech to inspire a peaceful approach to ending racism in the United States.
In the beginning of Malcolm X’s life, he faced racism, his father Earl Little, who was also an activist for African American rights, received death threats causing him and his family to move a few times. A group called the Black Legion, were most likely responsible for threats and the death of his father. Malcolm X achieved public awareness for the civil rights movement in 1960’s by participating in debates, speaking on radio stations, appearing on TV, and speaking at famous universities such as ( Columbia and Harvard). And In 1963, On June 29, he led one of the biggest rallies in the civil rights movement called Unity Rally and it was in Harlem, New York City.
In the times of the Civil Rights movement, I would join the side of Martin Luther King Jr. I feel as though he handled very terrible treatment in a respectful way. He saw some terrible things, which included segregation, the mistreatment of african americans, the destruction of his home, the threats made by people who were against his cause , and even going to prison for a demonstration in Alabama. And in the end, he inspired many people and did his best to end racism and achieve equality.