Martin Luther King and Malcolm X

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were black leaders who took very different approaches to the problems faced by blacks in America. One result has been that King has traditionally had a better reputation among the general white population than has Malcolm X. King's methods were based on non-violence, while Malcolm X was perceived as advocating violence, at least at certain points in his career. King was a minister, while Malcolm X had been in prison. King advocated a policy of integration and the inclusion of whites in the struggle for black equality, while Malcolm X called for separatism at times and in any case advocated blacks taking control of their own destiny without the participation of whites. These are some of the reasons why King was more accepted in white society than was Malcolm X.

Malcolm X grew up in a world where being black was a handicap, and indeed where being black was denigrated. At the time, this implanted in his mind a subtle sense of shame at his blackness, something he could not have articulated but which influenced his development as a human being and his choices as a young man. He tried to be as white as he could be both culturally and physically, a route which led him into criminal behavior that only emphasized his lack of a positive identity in the white world. Like many other young black men of his generation, he fell into a certain stereotypical mold imposed on him by the view white society had of black people. As he emphasizes in the

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paratism as self-determination and criticized reliance on whites to achieve black progress. King was more conventionally educated and became a preacher, only becoming a leader when the bus boycott began. In discussing Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, James H. Cone notes the difference in rhetoric and attitude on the part of each and shows clearly why white America would be more willing to listen to the message of conciliation and integration from King rather than the message of separation from Malcolm X: During the time that Martin King was preaching his America dream, Malcolm X offered a challenging critique of him by proclaiming that America, for the vast majority of blacks, as not a dream but a nightmare (Cone 111). Cone notes that this dichotomy highlights the fact that Malcolm X was largely a reactor to King, and as King became more accepted by white Americans, Malcolm X would be seen as a challenge to that acceptance and so as standing on the opposite side. Much of King's appeal derived from his position as a church leader, while Malcolm X became a challenge to white America by seeking a different religion than was accepted in America as well: More than any other American of his time, King embodied the best in th

Category: History - M