Martin Luther King Vs Malcolm X

Corey Helton

American Government

10/23/06

Martin Luther King Vs. Malcolm X

During the civil rights movement Martin Luther King and Malcolm X fought for the freedom and civil liberties of blacks. Even though these two men fought for the same cause they had very different approaches about getting there. Malcolm, was what a lot of people called an extremist. He believed that the only way that America was going to change was by violence and blood shed. Malcolm believed that their was no peaceful solution between blacks and whites, he thought that their had to be a separation between blacks and whites. Malcolm called this "Black Supremacy" he did not believe in equality, to him blacks were superior an needed to rise up and show it.

Many people think that Malcolm's violent behavior came from his early childhood. Malcolm became use to abuse early on in his life because he was beaten by both his parents. He was raised by a poor under class family. his mother raised eight kids through the depression. When Malcolm was very young his house was burnt down by the Klu Klux Klan killing his father. This instilled a lot of hatred of the white man in Malcolm.

Martin on the other hand was more fortunate. Martin was raised in a well know middle class family. He grew up in loving and caring environment. Martin was extremely smart he graduated high school at the age of fifteen. He shortly after attended the Ivey leagues.

Often Martin was the favored civil rights leader because of his non violent approach. People liked the idea of living amongst each other in peace and equality. While these two men are extremely different, they are both hero of their time. They sacrificed everything for what they believed in. If it had not been for them the millions of voices would not have been united to