Throughout the controversial legacies of Malcolm X and MLK Jr their philosophies differed greatly while trying to achieve the same goal. Their views conflicted in reference to equality, religion and economy (Catsam, Derek C. “The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr: The Boundaries

1. INTRODUCTION
2. Throughout the controversial legacies of Malcolm X and MLK Jr their philosophies differed greatly while trying to achieve the same goal.
3. Their views conflicted in reference to equality, religion and economy (Catsam, Derek C. “The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr: The Boundaries of Law, Politics and Religion”. Book Review, Political Science Quarterly, 2
4. Both figures grew up in vastly different worlds that shaped their views of these topics

 

1. Malcolm X and MLK Jr. used various methods to attract blacks in that time period to demand freedom, but were different in the way that MLK used peaceful protest and X’s approach was more violent and aggressive

 

1. MLK related to churchgoers and founded his equality philosophies on God. Malcolm X felt the only way to achieve equality was to demand it by whatever means necessary
2. “Black God” rhetoric by X, peaceful protest of the church by MLK

 

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2. Support Paragraph 1
3. Religious views of both figures were a result of their childhoods

 

2. X believed blacks were superior and tried to command that the white changed their views and thought that as well. MLK wanted everyone to be equal but more so wished for whites to accept blacks.
3. Malcolm X spoke his rhetoric about God being black ( Collins, AR. “A Disciple of Malcolm X: Clarence 13X Smith’s Embodied Black God Rhetoric.“)
4. MLK wanted whites to refer to the Bible that God created everyone equal, and no race greater than another (Catsam, Derek C. “The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr: The Boundaries of Law, Politics and Religion”)

 

3. Although they shared the same core values, they were two vastly different individuals with different routes of execution

 

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2. X and MLK’s economic goals stemmed from their childhoods

 

2. MLK experienced freedom in a household where he was taken care of and grew up in the church. X grew up in poverty with little church knowledge
3. These early life experiences shaped their views (Cushman-Wood, Darren. “Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X: Economic insights and “)
4. They agreed that the financial situation in the U.S was a struggle for everyone, but Blacks faced much worse financial strain that they were pre-disposed to because of discrimination (same reference as above)

 

3. They agreed that blacks faced economic strife, yet chose different ways to solve this

 

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1. MLK’s philosophy to racial equality was peaceful and revolved around God, while X chose to convey a more aggressive viewpoint
2. MLK arranged peaceful protests to attempt to open the eyes of whites, X chose to encourage blacks to result to violence if they were not heard
3. MLK did not want violence at all (Holloway, Johnathan S. “Revolution of Conscience: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Philosophy of “)
4. X spoke that violence came naturally to achieve what words couldn’t (same as listed above)

 

3. Both figures had followers who acted after their word, ranging in situations from productive to negative

 

• CONCLUSION (not needed)

 

1. REFERENCES

Catsam, Derek C. “The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr: The Boundaries of Law, Politics and Religion”. Book Review, Political Science Quarterly, 2002, 2.

Collins, AR. “A Disciple of Malcolm X: Clarence 13X Smith’s Embodied Black God Rhetoric.” 2020: 337-356.

Cushman-Wood, Darren. “Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X: Economic insights and influences.” May 1993: 21+.

Holloway, Johnathan S. “”Revolution of Conscience: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Philosophy of Nonviolence.” Book Review, June 1999.

Monthly Review. “”Martin and Malcolm: how shall we honor our heroes?”.” June 1997: 10+.