The Similarities and Differences between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X
The essay discusses the similarities and differences between Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Malcolm X was an American Muslim who served as a minister and an activist for human rights. His life (1925-1965) is understood by many as one that was determined to liberate African-Americans from the yolk of racism and discrimination. Martin Luther King Jr lived between 1929 and 1968 and was an American Baptist Christian. He became one of the most vocal champions for human rights in the United States from 1954 to the time of his death in 1968.
Similarities
Various similarities can be drawn from the two political figures. First, both were human rights activists in the United States during the 1960s. They were both involved in the American Civil rights movement and struggled for racial equality in the country (Waldschmidt-Nelson 67). At the time of their participation in racial liberation, American was undergoing dark ages of racial discrepancies.
Another similarity between the two is that both were extremely religious. Despite belonging Malcolm X being Muslim and Martin Luther King Jr Christian, both held on to their religious beliefs. Amidst their political struggles, they acknowledged the need to incorporate religion in their quest for advocating for equal rights and justice. The two political figures both came from religious families and lived to honor these beliefs until the times of their deaths, despite being active in revolutionary politics in the United States.
Differences
Apart from the similarities, there were also notable differences between the two politicians. The first difference emanates from the methods that each advocated for in their fight for human rights. While King advocated for peaceful means of ensuring that there was an equal representation, irrespective of racial background, Malcolm X believed that the liberation could be achieved by any means possible (Ornek and Ultan 5). He was the spokesperson of the Nation of Islam (NOI), the movement which violently remained opposed to white America and its Christian beliefs. Malcolm X vehemently preached black supremacy over the white American people.
In the 1960s, the television medium was a scarce political resource in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr brilliantly used the television platform to spread his messages of peaceful protests against the oppression of the black people in the United States (Waldschmidt-Nelson 102). In contrast, Malcolm X believed in the most immediate approaches towards preaching his messages of violent methods like strikes, boycotts and violent fights for racial liberation.
The two political figures were of divergent religious views. While Dr. King was a Christian, Malcolm X was a staunch Muslim who strongly opposed Christianity, associating it with white people. The religious differences between Dr. King and Malcolm X created a sharp division between them regarding what they stood for (Cruden 84). Occasionally, Malcolm X would accuse Dr. King of being bribed by the white man to present his views more peacefully. Due to their religious differences, they belonged to two conflicting schools of thought as far as political ideology was concerned.
Martin Luther King Jr advocated for racial integration. In his view, King believed that if nations could come together, all forms of discrimination would be eliminated from the United States. Dr. King continuously fought for the day when all the races would come together to preach unity, putting aside all the differences. This was not the case with the ideas of Malcolm X. Malcolm X believed that by integrating whites and blacks, the black race would be diluted (Edwards n.p.). He, therefore, advocated for blacks seeking self-respect from their fellow blacks. In a nutshell, Malcolm X advocated more for racial independence.
In conclusion, there existed both similarities and differences between the two persons. The essay has discussed similarities regarding what the two politicians fought for and the fact that they were both religious. The differences that could be noted included their sharp religious differences, divisions in political ideologies and their methods for preaching racial liberation for the African-Americans.
Works Cited
Top of Form
Cruden, Daniel. “A Comparison of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in the Black and Mainstream Press, 1955-2011” Victoria University of Wellington. 2014. Web. September 30, 2018,
Edwards, Brielle. MLK vs. Malcolm X. Similarities/Differences. 2011. Web. September 30, 2018.
Ornek, Serdar and Ultan, Mehlika. Civil Rights Movement Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Turkey: Kocaeli University. 2014. Web. September 30, 2018.
Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta. Dreams and Nightmares: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Struggle for Black Equality in America. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2012. Print.
