Ideological Adversaries or Partners? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Essay
Ideological Adversaries or Partners? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
A detailed historical account of the ideological positions underpinning two of America's greatest civil rights advocates, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
# 153910
| 0 words
| 0 sources
| 2014
| 
Published
on Jun 16, 2014
in
African-American Studies
(Historical Figures)
, History
(General)
, Political Science
(Human Rights)
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From the Paper:
"Posthumously, as in life, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are two African American leaders who can arouse the deepest passions engrained in people. Despite media portrayal of the two men as adversaries, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both had fascinating, similar lives dedicated to furthering black Americans. Their respective legacies are often overshadowed by polarizing emotions that lie at the heart of the Civil Rights movement. These devised legacies generally overlook how the two men's convictions slowly gravitated towards one another by the end of their lives. Perhaps, the two men who fought for African American equality in different ways, created a positive synergy within the black community that allowed Negros to stand up for themselves proudly. Sadly, American history tends to overlook the value of Malcolm X, while Martin King has his national monument, national holiday, and universal name recognition. To the general American populous, Malcolm X largely remains a mystical figure and King is an adorned hero.This "reshaping of history" is sad and represents an incomplete picture of what shaped black culture, opinion, and attitudes of from the Civil Rights movement to today. Martin King and Malcolm X both were inspirational leaders,who deserve equal respect in history because of their unique contributions to the Civil Rights movement. If one looks past the early, most radical teachings of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, one will find their philosophies are similar."Martin King's earliest view held that justice was more philosophical than physically defiant. King believed stopping racism required systematic attacks on the underlying forces that upheld racism rather than a direct attack on white people. King was compelled to the philosophy of nonviolent resistance, drawing inspiration from Gandhi (Carson and Lewis). King was stalwart for non-violence. Whether it was bus segregation in Montgomery or voting rights in Albany, King was content with chipping away the system of segregation one legal challenge at a time. Today people more commonly remember King's most liberal pursuits of enacting legal change through nonviolence. Perhaps, this historical perspective is deliberately done to forget King's later philosophical shift."
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Ideological Adversaries or Partners? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King (2014, June 16)
Retrieved March 29, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/essay/ideological-adversaries-or-partners-malcolm-x-and-martin-luther-king-153910/
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"Ideological Adversaries or Partners? Malcolm X and Martin Luther King" 16 June 2014.
Web. 29 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/essay/ideological-adversaries-or-partners-malcolm-x-and-martin-luther-king-153910/>