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Martin And Malcolm Essay, Research Paper

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X grew up in different environments. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King s childhoods had powerful influences on the men and their speeches. The early backgrounds of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were largely responsible for the distinct differences in responses to American racism. King was raised in a comfortable middle-class family where education was stressed while X, came from and underprivileged home. X was a self-taught man who received little schooling and rose to greatness on his own intelligence and determination. Both men ultimately became towering icons of contemporary African-American culture and had a great influence on African Americans.

Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 and was raised in a completely different atmosphere than King, an atmosphere where fear, anger and bitterness were planted. Malcolm X was brought up in an atmosphere of violence. The Ku Klux Klan set his house of fire causing his father to die. His mother later suffered a nervous breakdown and his family was split up. X was haunted by this early nightmare for most of his life. From then on, he was driven by hatred and his desire for revenge.

During his childhood, Malcolm X suffered not only from abuse by whites, but also from domestic violence. His father beat his mother and both of them abused their children. His mother was forced to raise eight children during the depression. After his mother had a mental breakdown, the children were all placed in foster homes. Malcolm X s resentment was increased as he suffered through the damages of integrated schooling. Although an intelligent student who shared the dream of being a lawyer with Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X s anger and disillusionment caused him to drop out of school. He started to use cocaine and set up a burglary ring to support his expensive habit. Malcolm X s hostility and promotion of violence as a way of getting change was well established in his childhood.

Martin Luther King lived in an entirely different environment. Martin Luther King was born into a family whose name in Atlanta was well known and established. Despite segregation, Martin Luther King Jr. s parents ensured that their child was secure and happy. He was a smart student and skipped two grades before entering an Ivy League college at only the age of 15. He was the class valedictorian with an A average. King paraded his graduation present in a new green Chevrolet before his fellow graduates. He was raised in the perfect environment where dreams and love were generated.

King and X s childhoods are a study in polarity. (pg. 254, Reflecting Black) whereas, Malcolm X was raised in nightmarish conditions, King s home was almost dream-like. He was raised in a comfortable middle-class home where strong values natured his sense of self-worth.

Both X and King spread their message through powerful, hard-hitting speeches. Nevertheless, their meanings were delivered in different styles and purposes. King was basically a peaceful leader who urged non-violence to his followers. He traveled about the country giving speeches that inspired black and white listeners to work together for racial harmony. (pg. 135, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Movement) X, for the most part, believed that non-violence and integration was a trick by Whites to keep African Americans in their places. He was furious at white racism and encouraged his followers through his speeches to rise up and protest against their white enemies.

King had a more positive attitude than X, believing that through peaceful demonstrations and arguments, blacks would be able to someday achieve full equality with whites. X s despair about life was reflected in his angry, negative belief that equality was impossible because whites had no moral conscience.

Martin Luther King appeared to many as calm and idealistic. Many say his calmness came from his peaceful, middle-class life. For instance, King preached about equality for blacks and whites. He also preached about getting this equality through a non-violent way. King s popularity was more than any other black leader s popularity. King urged blacks to win their rightful place in society by gaining self-respect, high moral standards, hard work and leadership. He also urged blacks to do this in a non-violent matter, (pg. 255, Reflecting Black)

The difference is in Malcolm X and Martin Luther King s backgrounds had a direct influence on their later viewpoints. As a black youth, Malcolm X was rebellious and angry. He blamed the poor social conditions that blacks lived in on the whites. His past ghetto life prepared him to reject non-violence and integration and to accept a strong separatist philosophy as the basis for black survival, (Internet, Malcolm X anniversary). He even believed at one time that whites were agents of the devil. As a result, Malcolm X recommended a separatist and nationalist strategy for black survival, (pg. 57, Malcolm X: The man and his times) He believed that only through violence would conditions change. He saw no evidence that white society had any moral conscience and promoted the role of the angry black against racist America. After Malcolm X broke away from Elijah Mohammed, this change is reflected in his more moderate speeches.

Malcolm X, in many ways, was known to many as an extremist. For most of the time that he spent as an Islamic minister, he preached about separatism between blacks and whites. He also preached about Black Nationalism, and as some would call it, black supremacy, (reporter from Malcolm X movie). Malcolm X had been misled all through his life. This can be shown especially at the time when he broke away from the Black Muslim party, because he realized that they were misleading him by telling him that separatism between blacks

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