Dusan Micovic

Prof. Rutt
EN105
11/15/2012
Contrast between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

In 1960s there was an uprising in United States. The black communities were beginning to
realize their constitutional rights. There were two bold souls that decided to take a stand, no
matter the consequences. These great men were known as Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Malcolm X. They were both greatly influential leaders of the African-American Civil Right
Movement, who strove for the same ultimate goal; however, they significantly differed in their
social backgrounds, religious beliefs and ideologies.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were raised in entirely different environments, which
later in life had a powerful influence on their characters and their views on racism. Martin grew
up in the Southern United States, where racial segregation was legally mandated in Americans
apartheid system. He spent his childhood in the protective cocoon of the black community,
growing up in a middle-class family where love, good values and education were generated. As a
remarkable student, he skipped both the ninth and the twelfth grade and entered college at the
age of fifteen. He continued to excel throughout college, graduating with two B.A. degrees in
sociology and theology, and finally receiving Doctors Degree in Philosophy. His father, Martin
Luther King, Sr. (a.k.a. "Daddy King") served as the first role model for young Martin Luther
King Jr., and one of the principal influences in molding his personality. Daddy King was a
preacher at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, and an early leader in the American Civil Rights
Movement, whose work encouraged Martin Luther King Jr. to follow his fathers footsteps and
fully commit to the movement.
On the other hand, young Malcolm was raised in the Northern states, in a very hostile
environment, where he faced family violence and daily onslaught of racism. When he was just
six, The Ku Klux Klan tormented his family by burning down their house and murdering his
father. His mother was forced to raise eight children until eventually she suffered a nervous
breakdown. She was committed to a psychiatric hospital and Malcolm and other children were
placed in foster care of white care. At school, he was one of the only black students in his class
where he constantly experienced racism of white teachers. His resentment and disillusionment
caused him to drop out of school. Lost, and driven by hatred and desire for revenge, Malcolm
found himself in a ghetto life; life of crime and drugs leading to seven years of prison. Malcolm
was dehumanized by his circumstances and needed a place and process to reclaim his sense of
blackness. His psyche and spirituality were deeply damaged by societal racism. Conditions he
grew up in prepared him to accept strong separatist philosophy as the basis for black survival.

Both men were affected to a great extent by their strong faiths; and therefore religion played a
crucial role in their lives and development of their ideas. Following the footsteps of his father
and grandfather, Martin Luther King Jr. became pastor for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr. embraced the reconciliation core beliefs of
Christianity and sought to implement this in society. This is best illustrated in his I have a
dream speech at the March on Washington in 1963. King exclaimed, I have a dream that one
day, right there in Alabama, with its vicious racistsblack boys and black girls will be able to
join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. Merging the Christian
idea of perfect love with St. Thomas Aquinas charge that an unjust law is in the eyes of God
immoral, and therefore, not a law, his strategies of nonviolent protest and civil disobedience
began to take shape. Malcolm Xs journey took a very different path. He joined the Nation of
Islam, a small religious group that taught racial separation, the inherent evil of whites, and the
need to embrace African culture. The Nation of Islam, led by Elijah Muhammad, appealed to
young Malcolm, because it embraced the richness of black history and culture, while completely
rejecting white society and values. Malcolm X believed that black people must no longer view
themselves through white lenses. He claimed that black people will never value themselves as
long as they subscribe to a standard of valuation that devalues them.
Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X spread their views through assertive, hardhitting, powerful speeches; however, the difference in their views and responses to American
racism were evidently different. Martin Luther King Jr. adopted an integrationalist philosophy,
whereby he believed that blacks and whites should be united and live together in peace. King
was deeply inspired by Gandhi and his teachings; he encouraged his followers to passive, nonviolent resistance and what he called weapons of love. Speaking to all of humanity, King made
these famous peaceful words, I have a dream, a dream that one day this nation will rise up and
live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal. Malcolm Xs philosophies presented a sharp contrast to those of Martin Luther
King. He strongly promoted nationalist and separatist doctrines. He believed that only through
revolution and force could blacks attain their rightful place in society. His famous line was By
any means necessary and he spoke of violent revolution by claiming, If its necessary to form a
Black Nationalist army, well form a Black Nationalist army. Itll be the ballot or the bullet. Itll
be liberty or itll be death.
Though different in their backgrounds, beliefs and methods, it is indisputable that both Martin
Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two towering icons of contemporary African-American
culture. They are remembered as preeminent leaders of civil rights movement,
who exerted to instill strength and hope to their people so that they could survive times of
desperate struggle and overcome hatred that surrounded them. At last, they are remembered as
great minds who were ahead of their time and who died too early, fighting for a goal yet to be
reached: equality and justice amongst all races.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Sources:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail
Howard-Pitney, David. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the
1950s and 1960s: A Brief History With Documents. Boston:Bedford/St.Martins, 2004
Malcolm X. Im talking to You, White Man, Saturday Evening Post, 237 (September 1964)
Curtiss Paul DeYoung. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X: Different Views on the Question
of Racism and Social Justice. Guadeloupe, (November 2008)
http://www.martinlutherking.fr/documents4.pdf
Amelia Cotter. Religious Backgrounds of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
(July 2010)
http://suite101.com/article/religious-backgrounds-of-martin-luther-king-jr-andmalcolm-x-a266610

The Nobel Peace Prize 1964. Nobelprize.org (November 2012)

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/