1

WHICH CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS METHODS WERE MORE EFFECTIVE, MALCOLM X

OR MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.?
Danielle C.
During the Civil Rights Movement there were a large variety of different leaders such as
Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X.,
and Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were two of the most famous
civil rights activists during this time period. Malcolm Xs ideology was violently fighting for
what you want, separating all African Americans from the United States, and his most famous
quote was, by any means necessary. Martin Luther King Jr.s ideology was that all African
Americans were going to take their rights without violence, and become unsegregated United
States citizens, his most famous quote was, I have a dream. Both of these civil rights leaders
led a large majority of people and made immense change in the Civil Rights Movement of the
1960s. The thesis of this paper is that Martin Luther King Jr.s methods and ideology were more
effective in eliciting change, during the Civil Rights Movement, than Malcolm X.s.
Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X, was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1925 to
Earl and Louise Little. Malcolm Xs family was discriminated against and threatened often. Most
of these threats were caused by Earl Littles work as a Baptist preacher who supported Marcus
Garveys Back to Africa Movement. The most dramatic of these multiple threats include his
familys house being burned down and Earl Little being run over by a streetcar. In 1939, Louise
Little was committed to a state mental hospital and Malcolm X and his siblings were sent to
multiple foster homes.1 In 1946, after numerous years of being a foster child and out in the world

1."Chronology of the Life and Activities of Malcolm X," brothermalcolm.net, Accessed

April 10, 2016, http://brothermalcolm.net/mxtimeline.html.

alone, Malcolm X went to prison for breaking and entering and armed robbery, while in prison
he converted to Nation of Islam. In 1952, he was paroled from prison and moved to Detroit,
Michigan, where he heard Elijah Muhammad speak and was given his X, a replacement for any
given last name.2 This mimicked the names of past slaves given to them by slave-owners,
symbolizing the lost African names of their ancestors. Thousands belonging to the Nation of
Islam took on an X as their last name.3 In 1954, Malcolm X became a minister, in 1958 he
married Betty X, and they eventually had 6 children. In 1963, Malcolm X was suspended from
the Nation of Islam for an unauthorized remark he made about President John F. Kennedys
assassination. Malcolm X spent his lifetime fighting for the civil rights of African-Americans,
until he was assassinated giving a speech in 1965 in New York City, New York.4
Throughout Malcolm Xs life he gave numerous speeches and one of his most famous
speeches was, A Declaration of Independence, which was given right after he was suspended
from the Nation of Islam. In this speech, Malcolm X made a statement that he was still Muslim
and always would be. Throughout the speech, Malcolm X told the African-American people that
his plan was still going to be correlated with Muhammads ideas and that they would be better
off if they were separated from the white people in the United States. Malcolm X believed that
moving all African-Americans back to Africa was the only way they could achieve peace. He
said that all of the leaders needed to come together and, concentrate our united efforts towards
solving the unending hurt that is being done daily to our people here in America. This speech
was when Malcolm X introduced his new mosque, normally thought of as a religious place for

2. Walter D. Myers, Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, (Scholastic Paperback, 1994),

193-194.
3. Keith D. Miller, "Malcolm X (1925-1965)," georgetown.edu, Accessed April 14, 2016,
http://faculty.georgetown.edu/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/xmalcolm.html.
4. Walter D. Myers, Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, 194-197.

Muslims, called the Muslim Mosque, Inc. He said that the mosque would, give us the religious
base, and the spiritual force necessary to rid our people of the vices that destroy the moral fiber
of our community. He stated that the political philosophy, economic and social philosophy, and
cultural emphasis would be Black Nationalism, the act of wanting to separate national status for
African-American people. Malcolm X also talked about how even though all Negroes were not
religiously inclined, the Muslim Mosque, Inc. would be organized so that there was active
participation from all of their people. Malcolm Xs big plan for the mosque was that the
emphasis would be on the minds of the young African-Americans. He wanted to have new ideas
from the young people so that the mosque was completely disenchanted from the old, adult,
established politicians. He also said that the mosque would accept ideas and financial aid from
anyone.5 The ideology of standing alone and fighting as one is shown strongly in this quote:
Whites can help us, but they cant join us. There can be no black-white unity until there is
first some black unity. There can be no workers solidarity until there is first some racial
solidarity. We cannot think of uniting with others, until after we have first united among
ourselves. We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven
acceptable to ourselves. One cant unite bananas with scattered leaves.6
On the subject of nonviolence, Malcolm X said that it was within the African-American peoples
rights to own firearms and if they were being threatened they were allowed to use self-defense.
He said that in the areas where the government was putting in no effort to protect the AfricanAmericans they were allowed to protect themselves. He also said that if the government thought
he was wrong for saying that then the government should start doing its job. Throughout this
speech, it is seen clearly what Malcolm Xs ideals and beliefs were, and what he thought his
people should do to obtain peace. He believed that peace could only be attained for the African

5. George Breitman, Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements, (Grove Press,
1994), 21.
6. Ibid., 21-22

American community after they were returned to their native homeland and were no longer being
suppressed by non-African Americans. Malcolm X also believed that his people should not be
violent unless it is in self-defense.7
Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X became a household name and he
was known as a violent leader. Malcolm Xs most famous quotes is, By any means necessary,
which refers to the African-Americans having the right to defend themselves. In The Civil Rights
Movement by Bruce J. Dierenfield, Malcolm X was described as:
A gangly street hustler turned spellbinding Muslim minister, picked up where Marcus
Garvey left off. Declaring integration unworkable, Malcolm X accused Kings middleclass movement of deceiving the black masses into thinking that Christians nonviolent
protest would improve their lives. Kings plan to love the white man into submission,
Malcolm X thought, was delusional and dangerous. Malcolm X did not want to integrate
into this corrupt society, but to separate from it, to a land of our own, where we can
reform ourselves, lift up our moral standards, and try to be godly. In the meantime, he
urged blacks to protect themselves from white devils by any means necessary,
suggesting that killing is a two-way street.8
Through this excerpt you can see how Malcolm X was viewed by a large portion of the
American citizens at this time. His ideology was not accepted by many, but Malcolm X did have
many people that followed him and his movement in the United States at this time.9
On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was born to Reverend and Mrs. Martin
Luther King, Sr. in Atlanta, Georgia. King passed the entrance exam to Morehouse College
before he graduated high school and in 1947 he became a licensed pastor and his fathers
assistant. King graduated from Morehouse College, in 1948, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
sociology and entered into Crozer Theological Seminary. King graduated from Crozer in 1951

7. Ibid.
8. Bruce J. Dierenfield, The Civil Rights Movement, (Great Britain: Pearson Education
Limited, 2004), 77.
9. Ibid.

and married Coretta Scott in 1953. In 1955, the first day of the bus boycotts, King was elected as
the president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), an organization that fought
for civil rights for African-Americans and specifically desegregation of the buses in Alabama. In
the few years that followed, King became famous for being an impactful activist in the Civil
Rights Movement, publishing many books and other writings, subsequently received a Nobel
Peace Prize on December 10, 1964. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a huge Civil Rights Movement
for the African-American people, gave hundreds of speeches, and changed millions of lives until
his assassination in 1968.10
Even though Martin Luther King, Jr. gave hundreds of speeches, his most famous speech
is undeniably the I Have a Dream speech, delivered on August 28, 1963 at the March on
Washington. Throughout this speech Martin Luther King, Jr. talked about all of the trials and
tribulations that the African-American people have been through. He spoke about how 100 years
previous the Emancipation Proclamation was written, and that the United States government still
did not uphold the promises that were in that proclamation. King talked about how he had a
dream for every American citizen to be equal and united. King mentioned that the AfricanAmericans would not give up until they were given their rights and that they were going to take
those rights peacefully. This speech shows Kings ideals and methods on how he wanted to gain
rights for African-Americans. King wanted to help all African-Americans take their rights, keep
them, and he also wanted to accomplish this goal peacefully.11
When taught a lesson on the Civil Rights Movement, one cannot go without discussing
Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout Kings lifetime he led numerous sit-ins, freedom rides, bus

10. Martin L. King Jr., I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches, (N.p.: HarperOne,
2003), xxiii-xxx.
11. Eric J. Sundquist, King's Dream, (N.p.: Yale University Press, 2009), 229-234.

boycotts, marches, and campaigns, but was still perceived as the most peaceful leader of this era.
All of these above accomplishments were done so that African-Americans could gain their civil
rights. Bruce J. Dierenfield, an American history professor, describes Martin Luther King Jr.s
philosophy multiple times throughout his book, The Civil Rights Movement. According to
Dierenfield, this is how he perceives Kings philosophy:
He [King] appealed to their deeply held Christian faith by promising brotherhood to
whites, not retribution. He reinforced Jesus creative weapon of love with Gandhis
tactic of nonviolence that helped the Indian masses win independence from Britain.
Nonviolence promised the powerless a way a painfully slow way to end segregation
by wielding the force of moral authority against the brutal oppressors who controlled
every aspect of black life. But black southerners faced more forbidding obstacles than did
the Indians: blacks were a minority; the white oppressors were native to the region; and
the philosophy of nonviolence was unknown in the most violent part of the country. In
view of these handicaps, King had to convert enough whites to support racial justice. He
therefore pointed out that blacks were simply demanding their rights as American
citizens. If such democratic appeals fell on deaf ears, King planned to provoke crises to
force white southerners to reform their society.12
This excerpt is an astonishingly accurate example of Kings ideology, showing how he used
some of Gandhis ideals and methods to give his methods some structure, and how peaceful he
wanted to be in everything he did. This excerpt also shows how King wanted to get a good
majority of the white people in the United States to support his movement, so that he united his
people with all of the other United States citizens. He wanted his people, as well as the rest of the
minorities, to unite for representation to be fairly treated in the United States.13
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. led millions of African-Americans in the United
States, during the Civil Rights Movement, together they made leaps and bounds in the Civil
Rights Movement; however, their ideologies varied immensely. Malcolm X wanted peace for his
people by taking them all back to Africa and King wanted peace for his people by joining hands

12. Bruce J. Dierenfield, The Civil Rights Movement, 45.

13. Ibid.

with all other United States citizens and gaining equal rights with them. Malcolm X, with his by
any means necessary, moved people in a way that made them want to fight back, against the
government and the rules set upon them. King, with his dream, moved people in a way that
made them want to peacefully take their rights and never violently fight back. Malcolm X had
more than 125 people in his mosque and King had 250,000 people rallying behind him at the
March on Washington. A vast majority of the people in the United States at this time, did not
accept Malcolm Xs ideas and methods. On the other hand, Martin Luther King, Jr. was seen as
an astonishing leader during this era. Both of these civil rights leaders are important to history,
but Martin Luther King, Jr.s methods and ideology were more effective in eliciting change than
Malcolm Xs. King is undeniably the most famous civil rights leader in American history, as
well as the most idolized and remembered. There are hundreds of museums/historical sites,
books, and studies dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. and his memory. According to The
Library of Congress, Martin Luther King, Jr. was:
The most important voice of the American civil rights movement, which worked for
equal rights for all. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice,
and he never got tired of trying to end segregation laws (laws that prevented blacks from
entering certain places, such as restaurants, hotels, and public schools). He also did all he
could to make people realize that "all men are created equal." Because of his great work,
in 1964 King received the Nobel Peace Prize -- the youngest person ever to receive this
high honor. King was also a Baptist minister. His birthday is now observed as a national
holiday on the third Monday in January.14
This excerpt shows how people saw Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he did for the Civil Rights
Movement. His birthday being observed as a national holiday shows the difference he made in
the world and how important his life was to United States history. History.com says that Martin
Luther King, Jr. was, The driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus

14. "Martin Luther King, Jr.," americaslibrary.gov, Accessed April 15, 2016,
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/king/aa_king_subj.html.

Boycott and the March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.15 Martin Luther King, Jr.s
activism incited social and even political change.
Malcolm X led hundreds of African-Americans that took their rights by any means
necessary. Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands of African-Americans that took their rights
peacefully, without fighting back and carried out their dream for equality. Martin Luther King,
Jr.s methods and ideology were more effective in making change than Malcolm Xs. Malcolm X
and Martin Luther King, Jr. are extremely important leaders in history and are still remembered
and idolized today. Even though their methods varied immensely, there is no denying how
staggering both of their efforts were in gaining peace for the African-American people during the
Civil Rights Movement of the 60s.

15. "Martin Luther King Jr.," History.com, Accessed April 15, 2016,
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr.

Bibliography
Breitman, George. Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements. N.p.: Grove Press,
1994.
"Chronology of the Life and Activities of Malcolm X," brothermalcolm.net, Accessed April 10,
2016, http://brothermalcolm.net/mxtimeline.html.
Dierenfield, Bruce J. The Civil Rights Movement. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited,
2004.
King, Jr., Martin Luther. I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches. N.p.: HarperOne, 2003.
"Martin Luther King, Jr." americaslibrary.gov. Accessed April 15, 2016.
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/king/aa_king_subj.html.
"Martin Luther King Jr." History.com. Accessed April 15, 2016.
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/martin-luther-king-jr.
Miller, Keith D. "Malcolm X (1925-1965)." georgetown.edu. Accessed April 14, 2016.
http://faculty.georgetown.edu/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/xmalcolm.html.
Myers, Walter D. Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. N.p.: Scholastic Paperbacks, 1994.
Sundquist, Eric J. King's Dream. N.p.: Yale University Press, 2009.