Compare And Contrast Martin Luther King Jr And Malcolm X

In the words of Dick Feagler, “ Equality of opportunity is freedom, but equality of outcome is repression”. Freedom was one step ahead with the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. In Dr. King’s speech “ I Have a Dream” at the March for Washington 1963, he spoke with optimism and encouragement. His message was integrating through civil disobedience. The second part of his speech was very inspirational. Dr. King grew up in a very stable home where his dad and grandfather were both in the ministry. Dr. King’s message was taken from his religious background. During the Harlem Freedom Rally of 1960, Malcolm X spoke very pessimistic. His message was segregation by the creation of a separate African American

nation. Malcolm X got his anger from his life.

X grew up with an unstable life after his mom was sent to a mental hospital and his dad’s death. He also had moved a lot as a kid because of death threats, and at one point his family home was burned down. The difference between both men are many.
Martin Luther King’s message in his speech was that racial equality can only be achieved by integration through civil disobedience. Dr. King wanted to use non-violent resistance, for example, peaceful protest. He wanted to do this no matter what happened. Dr. King once stated, “ We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic height of meeting physical force with soul force” (King, 3). This supports that Dr. King wanted racial equality by using acts of civil disobedience. The quote also shows how much Dr. King wanted these protests to be non-violent. Dr. King spoke with an optimistic tone and he chose what he said carefully. This is clearly shown when Dr. King stated, “I say to you today, my friends, though, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I

have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We will hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.’ “ (King, 4). This quote established a tone because it looked on the bright side of things, and not the bad side. The sentence structure used to convey his speech is compound-complex structure. Dr. King once stated, “When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, ‘Free at last, Free at last, Great God almighty, We are free at last.’ “ (King, 6). The sentence structure in the quote above helps to develop and support the tone and message of the speech by showing the way Dr. King chose his words and the way he spoke. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted achieve racial equality different than Malcolm X.

Malcolm X’s message in his speech was that racial equality can only be achieved through the creation of an independent African American nation and segregation. Malcolm X’s message was very demanding and very outspoken. X believes that violence is the only solution to gain what he wanted. Malcolm X once stated, “God will erase the American government and the entire that it favors and represents” (X, 2). This showed how much Malcolm X wanted the caucasian race to end. The quote is very bold. Malcolm X spoke with a pessimistic and very demanding tone. X stated, “God will then give the whole Earth back to the original owners, the black man!” (X, 2). The quote established the tone because Malcolm X exclaimed his idea. King’s speeches sounded passionate, whereas Malcolm X’s speeches sounded full of anger. Malcolm X used short and simple sentences to show his anger. X stated, “WE MUST HAVE SOME LAND OF OUR OWN!” (X, 1 index 2). The sentence structure in the quote above supports the tone and message of this speech by the anger he showed in the quote. Malcolm X wanted racial equality through physical violence and segregation.
In conclusion, it can be said both men had different opinions on the movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message was to achieve racial equality through civil disobedience and integration. Dr. King spoke with an optimistic tone and he used compound-complex sentence structure. In contrast, Malcolm X’s message was to achieve racial equality through segregation and physical violence. He spoke with a pessimistic and demanding tone. Malcolm X’s sentence structure was simple and to the point. Even though the two men were different in traits, they both were speaking for racial equality and freedom.