Malcolm X Martin Luther King Term Paper

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That is, my religion is still Islam. My religion is still Islam. I still credit Mr. Mohammed for what I know and what I am" (427). His philosophy was no pro-violence, he merely believed that one should not turn the other cheek when one was colonized: "The political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community...The political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that if you and I are going to live in a Black community -- and that's where we're going to live, 'cause as soon as you move into one of their -- soon as you move out of the Black community into their community, it's mixed for a period of time, but they're gone and you're right there all by yourself again," he said (427). Malcolm X was so frightening to Whites not simply because of his refusal to announce violence, but because of his location of American oppression in a larger global and historical context. America was not a uniquely good and pure nation; it had committed the same abuses as South Africa and England upon minorities within its borders and community mobilization and empowerment was the solution to colonial oppression.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideological and personal struggle was not over the issue of violence, but as to how he should address America's acts of violence in a wartime context towards other nations. In "To Atone for our Sins and Errors in Vietnam" King recognized the disproportionate price African-American soldiers were paying in their lives in Vietnam, and recognized how vital American resources were being diverted to pay for an unjust and politically unprofitable war was also an issue of peace, and if violence should triumph over harmony.

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"I have called for radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam, many persons have questioned me about the wisdom of my path. At the heart of their concerns this query has often loomed large and loud: 'Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King?' 'Why are you joining the voices of dissent?' 'Peace and civil rights don't mix,' they say. 'Aren't you hurting the cause of your people,' they ask...such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my commitment or my calling. Indeed, their questions suggest that they do not know the world in which they live (461). How, King demands, can a person call for justice for African-Americans in a nonviolent fashion and ignore a struggle that is harming African-Americans at home and who are fighting abroad -- and also harming Vietnamese people, who are human, and the brothers and sisters and part of the human condition. King's cry of 'free at last' was a multiracial vision, and one formed upon peace, not war and division.

Malcolm X's implications are that African-Americans are an imprisoned nation within America, and even if one does not agree with violent struggle, community solidarity, rather than individual rights are required to remedy this situation, and African community should not be limited by borders of enforced nationality. King's vision is multiracial and pacifist, but equally inclusive and expansive. To demand civil rights is not a narrow concern of a single group, rather it is the beginning of a struggle that begins with the self but extends to a larger community and world.

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