Goals & Methods of King & Malcolm X

Both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, in the three selected speeches (two by King and one by Malcolm X), sought to advance the civil and legal rights and the socioeconomic status of blacks in the United States. However, aside from that general similarity, there are far more differences between the two in terms of themes, methods and specific goals.

The greatest difference is King's basic assumption that integration is desirable and Malcolm X's refusal to accept that assumption. King seeks a way to fit blacks into a political, cultural and socioeconomic system which he wants reformed so that blacks will receive fair and just treatment. Malcolm X, on the other hand, begins his argument from the standpoint that it is not up to blacks to figure out a way to fit into an oppressive system, but is rather up to the white-run system to stop oppressing blacks. From that fundamental difference, further contrasts of themes, methods and goals flow.

King begins his "I Have a Dream" address by setting out the failures of the American system to live up to its promises of equality with respect to blacks. It would be a mistake to ignore the fact that King recognizes fully the forces at work under the surface of society, forces which could explode if justice is not granted to blacks:

Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in Ame

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preacher seeking to fire up the moral and religious impulses of his audience. Malcolm X seeks to offer the starkest reality possible, to frighten whites into seeing that the choice is either swift and radical change or violence and destruction. King discusses the danger of violence as if it were a real but distant possibility, and he disdains using it as a direct threat. He definitely refuses to have any part of it himself. Malcolm X is quite willing to include the threat of violence in his address as a legitimate response to racial injustice and oppression. Whereas King shows no sign of personal anger at whites, perhaps hoping to shift the energy of race-based rage to the energy of hope and creative activism, Malcolm X fills his speech with expressions of bold and blatant anger and contempt for whites. King seeks to ease racial tension, despite his intention of gaining racial justice through nonaggressive resistance. Malcolm X seeks to shine a bright and harsh light directly on racial tension in order to intensify the awareness of the need for radical change. King speaks as a man of God; Malcolm X speaks as a revolutionary, or at least as a man who will not shrink from violence as a means of changing an unjust system which w

Category: History - G