Civil rights leaders bring distinct styles to movement
King, Malcolm disagree on best path
Editor’s note This is in essay to dose
February’s Black History Month Cdebrs
tlon.
Blacks have been denied equal
rights in the continent of North
America for nearly 400 years.
Brought over as slaves, these Afri
can people, once rich with a his
tory, culture and land of their own,
were robbed of the possessions
Americans hold most dear.
Since then, many people have
fought for the rights of black people
in this nation. Two very important
people at the forefront of this fight
were Martin Luther King Jr. and
Malcolm X. In the struggle of black
people, both had similar goals for
black people, but with very differ
ent approaches to achieving those
goals. >
To really understand the differ
ence between these two men, one
must first realize that they came
from drastically different back
grounds. This is probably the key
in determining the reason for their
dissimilarities.
Malcolm X, bom Malcolm Little,
experienced a very hard childhood.
When Malcolm was very young, his
father, a follower of Pan African
leader Marcus Garvey, was mur
dered by white men and his mother
was committed to an insane asy
lum.
Malcolm was then shifted from
i home to home. These frequentshifts
prevented him from becoming in
volved in strong relationships. In
his teen-age years, Malcolm found
himself in a life of crime. He be
came a full-time hustler, dope ped
dler, pimp and subsequently was
convicted and sentenced to lOyears
in prison.
On the other side of the coin,
Martin Luther King was brought up
in rather congenial surroundings.
Both his mother and father were
f>resent throughout his life. King’s
ather was a baptist minister, which
helped instill many values in King.
King’s choice to become a minister
is an indication that he must have
seen his father as a role model —
another one of Malcolm’s lacking
components.
Development of
philosophies
King had always been a home
town hero in Montgomery, Ala.,
due to his uplifting sermons and
speeches. But he gained his first
political spotlight when he decided
to be the spokesman for the Mont
gomery bus boycott in 1956. After
the boycott’s victory, King took a
power position in what would soon
come to be the Civil Rights struggle.
He set his eyes on the issue of
segregation. King believed that
separation of races was inherently
destructive to this generation’s chil
dren and their future children. In
this mode, Civil Rights became
King’s political philosophy.
While in jail, Malcolm was vis
ited by a relative, who informed
him of a man named the Honorable
Elijah Muhammad, a leader of a
religious sect called the Black Mus
lims. This man, Muhammad, was
believed to have seen God in the
form of a man namedMaster Wallace
D. Fard.
Master Fard gave Muhammad
the knowledge mat black people
wereGod’schosen peopleinbond
age and that Islam was the religion
that would set black people free.
Muhammad wrote encouraging let
ters to Malcolm while Malcolm was
in jail and spoke to him with a
compassion and understanding he
had never known before. Through
Muhammad’s letters, Malcolm was
inspired to read and to gain as
much knowledge as possible. After
serving seven years, Malcolm was
released from prison. Upon leaving
prison, Malcolm began to work
closely with Muhammad, recruit
ing new members and educating
the black community about the
black community’s current situa
tion.
One of the points Malcolm
stressed was that black people had
been maneuvered into a position
of prostitution by the white man.
He also pointed out that if Blacks
were in complete charge of the
community in which they lived,
they would be in a power position
to determine where the black race
was going. This brought on
Malcolm’s philosophy of black na
tionalism through separation.
Movement Approaches
It’s important to include thatKing
also served time in jail. Recommit
ted the crime of demonstrating on
public property. King held many
demonstrative movements such as
sit-ins, public petitions and marches,
most of which were attacked by
white onlookers. But this violence
was not returned by King nor his
followers.
King followed closely with the
teachings of G andhi, who promoted
nonviolence and love in return for
hate. One of the most important
speeches King ever gave was his "I
Have a Dream" speech given dur
ing the march on Washington.
King’s speech stressed his beliefs in
the American dream and hope for
integration in the future. He spoke
of the beauty he found in the Dec
laration of Independence and in
other documents that captured the
ideas of American freedom.
All ofthis disillusioned Malcolm.
Malcolm not only rejected the idea
of integration, but healso disagreed
with King’s method of taking ac
tion. In Tact, Malcolm’s criticism
became harsh when he called King
a "chump” for using kids as demon
strators, a "clown"Tor marching on
Washington (which was controlled
by whites) and a “traitor to his race"
for advocating nonviolence, espe
cially when blacks were being at
tacked at any given time and were
receiving no protection from any
one.
Malcolm viewed nonviolence as
an “Uncle Tom” mentality. He
viewed retaliation not as violence
but as intelligence. He often spoke
of a new generation of black people
who were going to demand “free
dom or death.- King thought re
turning violence with violence was
counterproductive, and therefore
immoral. Needless to say, the two
ideas of these men caused a distinct
difference in the types of people
who followed them both.
King was usually followed by
middle-aged to elderly blacks and
whites, while Malcolm’s followers
tended to be mostly young blacks
to blacks in their mid-30s.
King was a very eloquent
speaker. His words were thought
ful, beautiful and true to the heart.
His message was so important to
history that his birthday was made
a national holiday.
El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm
X) was an electrifying speaker. His
words were hard ones that tapped
at the human emotion and were
right to the point. But until just
recently, he was a hero whose story
was sung quietly. I believe botn
men are equally important in the
history and struggle of African
people. They had tne same objec
tives, only different ways of reach
ing them.
Brymn Wdb (Yusef Zahir) is a freshman
general studies major and a Diversions
contributor.
W SHAPE A COMMUNITY SHARE A VISION .
VISTA VOLUNTEERS
• serve full-time (or one year in low-income communities
• help people mobilize to overcome poverty in their
neighborhoods
• are assigned to local projects in the 50 states. Puerto Rico
and Washington. D C
• set up projects to reduce hunger and homelessness,
organize people to rebuild urban housing, create
employment and literacy projects .. and much more
• are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, age 18 or older
EE-RS RECEIVE
• a modest living allowance plus a $95 monthly stipend paid
upon completion of service
• training before and during service
• unique experience and new skills which enhance career
' development
• possible determent or partial cancellation of student loans
• easier access to federal employment after service
THE FEDERAL DOMESTIC
VOJJNTEER AGENCY
Recruiter on campus
GOVERNMENT.. AND OTHER ALTERNATIVES
CAREER INFORMATION DAY 1993
THURS, MARCH 4,9:30 AM - 3 PM
VJSTA
