MLK And Malcolm X: The African American Civil Rights Movement

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Imagine going to a restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, sitting at the lunch counter waiting to be served. You would wait hours to be served, but the restaurant would not tolerate you, simply because of the color of your skin. You might have been cursed at by whites to get you to leave. You would hold your ground, and just wait until you were served. This is one of the many tactics non-violent protesting tactics that Martin Luther King Jr. used to arise issues in Americans civil rights. However, this was not the only strategy, Malcolm X, another key civil rights activist, used self defense as his main way of getting civil rights back. While MLK and Malcolm X were leaders of the African American civil rights movement, their strategies …show more content…
There were many issues in the north and west of poverty and police brutality was on the rise. While MLK’s strategies worked during 1954-1965, they started to become obsolete. The issues grew and couldn't be resolved by MLK’s outdated methods. This is where Malcolm X introduced his radical methods that worked for these highly controversial issues. Malcolm X claimed that it was ok to fight if it was in self defense. At this time police were brutally abusing African Americans, and if they were to go by MLK’s methods it would be unfair. Malcolm once said, “I don't favor violence. If we could bring about recognition and respect of our people by peaceful means, well and good. Everybody would like to reach his objectives peacefully. But I'm also a realist. The only people in this country who are asked to be nonviolent are black people.”(DBQ document 9) He explained that nonviolence was needed because drastic times call for drastic measures. Malcolm X also created support groups for blacks, that helped out with schooling and provided jobs for many thousands. Another tactic that Malcolm X used was promoted Black Nationalism. This was to raise awareness and support of the black middle class. It gave African Americans a sense to that they belong to something. Black nationalism promoted what made African Americans different and embodied it. Hip hop culture grew and African Americans started to become more accepted. Although the new studies that were used by Malcolm X, not many groups supported this new evolved movement. Government support was lackluster and the middle class wanted nothing to do with how radical the new movement was. The support may have been lost by most but the new movement was necessary in shaping how America functions today, all that was done had good intent and ultimately the civil rights movement got closer to the
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