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The distinctive quality a person has identifies them as a person in the social network. We are all different, different in our looks, different in our religions, and different in our beliefs. Scientists have proven that there are some traits which are hereditary and they don’t have anything to do with the life experiences. The other traits are those which you develop overtime due to various incidents in life.
These are the learned traits and these can be eliminated with effort. With this in mind, we can now form justifications to the similarities and differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King; in the way they approach the problem, the type of person they are and reasons that justify that. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most intellectual African Americans. His ideas captivated the entire American social network and government.
Martin Luther King believed in the US constitution and the idea that all men are equal, no matter what race, social status, and education: “In order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” (source A) The very words inspired Martin Luther King Jr. to be the hero in the anticipated fight against racism. However, Malcolm X was one of the most radical, prominent civil rights leaders of his time.
His ideas totally contradicted of those of Martin Luther King’s. He believed that for every African American Blood lost, it should be met with force and diligence. He told his brothers (black people) that the reason for the hate and anger is due to hundreds of years of slavery and self doubt; he believed that since the black man knew he was inferior to the whites he would accept defeat without any voice of opinion:” to us our color became like a chain, to us or color became like a prison, which kept us confined…and we thought that the reason for this is because of our color. (Malcolm, Source 2 ) Physiologists believe that our past makes us to the people that we are today. Our past life can teach us, and raise our confidence, or it could change us and bring it down. Martin Luther King was an intellectual child who loved to be first and hated to second. When Martin was 7, he was enrolled into helping the church and by doing so he was brought up in a community filled with highly educated people. This made MLK more confident, knowledgeable, and expressive about his ideas and theories about the social network that he resided in. Martin Luther king was assassinated on March 29, 1968.
However, Malcolm X was born into a society that not only rejected him, and discriminated him as well. Malcolm was born into a family of slaves; however like MLK he was highly intelligent and was not afraid to express his goals. He was the top student in his school, until his favorite teacher told him that his aspiration for being a lawyer is “no realistic goal for a nigger”. This social network pushed out Malcolm to another world, one filled with crime and the harsh conditions of life. Eventually Malcolm was caught drug dealing and was sentenced to jail; in jail Malcolm refined himself and found the religion of Islam.
He was captivated with the equality and the respect of that religion towards every race, and that god overrules all. Malcolm X was also Assassinated on February 21, 1965 . Martin Luther King believed that the solution to beating the “whites” is to use the media, and broadcast the harsh conditions that the African Americans live by everyday in the south. He believed in the idea of non- violent protests; he believed that by using the media, to show the aggressive behavior of the white people against them he would win over the people in the north.
By doing so he established group of protestors to participate in sit-ins (protesting an idea by calmly sitting down and showing no response to any action taken against you). Malcolm X however urged people to believe that the black race is equal and sometime even better than the white, and told people that violence should be met with violence. The reason for Malcolm X’s success was mostly due to one person, Mohammad Ali, a famous African American boxer who he convinced to join Islam. By doing so he enrolled many other black people in his crusade against the White men.
Malcolm X believed that all black men should become Muslim and by doing so be treated equally, with liberty and justice . The deep emotional memory of our past makes us who we are and affects our actions in the future. This is the case in both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. MLK lived in a place where his voice was heard and respected, he was born into a middle class society which meant he was well taken care of, which also meant that he got to hang out with white kids. This made Martin more self confident, unlike many of the other black kids who were discriminated at that time.
As a child MLK was around highly intellectual people, much older than him, which meant that as a young age he would learn to speak with confidence and charisma. This attribute from MLK’s childhood helped him in his fight against racism. His speeches are always filled with many linguistic techniques, fluently delivered and highly organized. The harmonious life of Martin Luther King contributed to many aspects of his beliefs and ideologies. He choose non violent protesting, because he knew it would be highly effective if the press covered it, however the main reason is people he grew up with.
The black community would respond greatly to MLK ideas, because as infrequent as this might sound, they would feel smart for once in their life. They would feel like they’re doing the right thing because MLK, a doctor a high school graduate is doing it, they would seem smart because for once in their life they are not the violent ones portrayed on the news, and for once in their life the world could see that they are now slaves and the chains of racism can be broken once and for all .