Dr. Martin Luther King vs Malcolm X Marin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were very significant during the Civil Rights Movement. Both men were excellent speakers and shared one common goal but had two different ways of resolving it. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to resolve the issues by using non-violence to create equality amongst all races to accomplish the goal. Malcolm X also wanted to decrease discrimination and get rid of segregation but by using another tactic to successfully accomplish the similar goal.
The backgrounds of both men were one of the main driven forces behind the ways they executed their plans to rise above the various mistreatments. Martin Luther King Jr. was a more pronounced orator, a more refined leader, and overall saw the larger picture better than Malcolm X. Martin Luther King Jr. came from a middle class home with two loving and supportive parents. He was born in Georgia, January 15, 1929. Dr. King Jr. was one of three children. The impact he had on black and white audiences changed the way they viewed segregation and unity. He was such a revolutionary orator that he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Marin Luther King Jr. was the living definition of a prototypical nonconformist, which is a person who does not change their initial thoughts or actions based off of what others do. The reason prototypical nonconformist defines him so well is because his speeches were written to inspire all races, especially young African Americans to use non-violence to resolve any issues and to never lose sight of their own dreams. His most famous “I Have a Dream” speech spoke about uplifting one another to help achieve each other’s goals with the absence of hatred or violence.
He also brought forth the knowledge that God does not see any race more superior than any other. Malcolm X also was known as Malcolm Little. He took a slightly different route with how he drew his audiences through his speeches. Malcolm Little was born in Omaha, Nebraska, May 19, 1925. He was not as fortunate as Martin Luther King Jr. was while growing up. Malcolm X was one of eight children with two loving parents, but later on died. He was more so a lecturer about segregation whereas Dr. King was more of an orator.
The humor that flowed throughout all his speeches had underline meanings that were equally as serious as Martin Luther King Jr. made his speeches seem. Martin Luther King Jr. was literally born to be a leader overall. He took a stance for what he believed and didn’t let anyone change his vision. Martin Luther King Jr. practiced the beliefs of Christianity and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. The practices he used throughout his proactivity during the Civil Rights Movement allowed people around the world to realize how his leadership really affected this country as a whole.
Malcolm X was also a very great leader during the Civil Rights era. His Islamic religion helped influence how he led those who followed his teachings. He was motivated by anger that was created from white men in the past. When he was younger, his mother was threatened to move out of town because his father’s sermons were starting to cause an up roar in the community between blacks and whites. The leadership Malcolm X brought to the community was rejuvenated energy that gave young black men and women the hope to rise above the white man and his laws. Unlike Dr.
King, Malcolm X used sarcasm and humor to attract a specific audience. His leadership skills were taught in prison whereas Dr. Kings were taught through his upbringing in the Churches. Martin Luther King seems to be the ideal idol everyone needed to have during the Civil Rights era. He was a family man ever since he was a little boy, and stuck to his morals the entire time he was a leader for cultures. He was a great speaker from the beginning because he was use to preaching to people in the same church his father led. Great leadership skills ran through his blood from the very start. Martin Luther King Jr. aw the greater picture overall, and knew he could at least attempt to open peoples’ eyes to see what he saw. Malcolm X is a tremendous idol as well. His thoughts and actions had wonderful intensions. Unlike Dr. King Jr. his were executed in a more dictatorial sense. His audience was not nearly as broad as Dr. King Jr. ’s was. His target was more so around young black men and young black women. The demeanor people received was along the lines of passion for black power and for blacks to be superior to whites in the future. There was no equal anything when it came to politics and social issues.
That is where his leadership became to be questioned by some blacks. Equality had sounded better than dominating other races. In history we know that no two men are alike, but Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were phenomenal people and leaders. Both had visualized some type of change in the future, yet were not literally able to see it. Both Dr. King and Malcolm X set out to bring a sense of confidence to blacks all over the United States. Their main purpose was to help instill black’s power and strength so that they could overcome racial disparity and prejudice that surrounded them.
Both Dr. King and Malcolm X had very distinct and very different ways of promoting their message. I like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. more for the fact that he was clearly the better leader and Dr. King was a more influential person because the way he portrayed his messages. He was more geared and focused on equality and wellness of the world as a whole, whereas Malcolm X’s personal interpretation of the world was very well blinded by anger, bitterness, and the desire to get revenge at the expense of the world that he thought treated him unfairly.
