During 1950, civil rights leaders such as Malcolm X and Dr. King fought for the rights of blacks. During the civil rights movement, the news media played a major part helping to expose the country to segregation laws and racial profiling through news coverage. Both leaders Dr.
King and Malcolm X took two different directions regarding leading the civil rights movement. Dr. King promoted nonviolent protest and idealistic views, whereas Malcolm X promoted violence by any means necessary to develop a philosophy of independence and freedom for blacks.With the help of the media, other states were able to capture rallies, riots and attacks on television, such as the Birmingham riots. Not only did the media contribution to defending blacks, but the media brought about a noise from the public; a noise that cried out for change against brutality, mistreatment, and segregation of blacks .
Politicians and leaders, such as, Dr. King and Malcolm X were against the mistreatment of blacks and depended on the support of the media to reach out to the public for change.Dr. King was one of the major leaders to lead the civil rights movement. Dr.
King strategy was to fight in a peaceful manner, which meant nonviolent protest. “In 1956, Dr. King helped to organize a bus boycott in Montgomery, after Rosa Parks, an African American woman, was asked to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. The police were called and Parks was arrested in accordance with Alabama segregation laws.
King, Jr. called upon the citizens of Montgomery to stop riding public buses.The boycott lasted for a year, with hundreds of citizens carpooling or walking miles to their destination to avoid riding the buses” (McGill, 2005). Because two-thirds of Montgomery was black bus companies suffered a huge lost. As 1960 approached, the civil rights movement began to intensify.
Dr. King had inspired individuals to demand for equal rights of all American citizens by using a nonviolent approach, but Malcolm X another civil rights leader took another approach. “On one level, his non-violence was a tactical and pragmatic choice.It rested on the belief that the facts of demography and history made violence by African Americans (only a tenth of the US population) a very high-risk option, given the repeated examples of the white population responding to isolated instances, or even just the threat, of black violence with extraordinary brutality”(Ling, 2003). King and Malcolm X had two different views when it came to fighting for civil rights.
“Figures such as Malcolm X vilified King for what they regarded as a demeaning denial of the basic human right to self-defense.King's rejection of violence may have won him praise among white liberals and the mainstream media, but Malcolm's advice that 'If the Man puts a hand on you - send him to the cemetery', was warmly applauded by appreciative black audiences (Ling, 2003). ” Malcolm X had inspired black Americans to fight for political and economic freedom. Dr King had adapted Gandhi philosophy of a non -violent “love thy enemy” approach.
Malcolm X pushed for violence by any means necessary, proclaiming it to be a form of self defense. His famous, "Freedom by any means necessary" position was intended to suggest that Black people should use whatever strategies and tactics that produce a rational and positive result-the ballot or the bullet, non-violent peaceful protest or armed resistance against enemy attack (Daniels, 1990)” Malcolm X emphasized self- empowerment and disobedience against injustice primarily against whites as he viewed whites as evil people; using derogatory language and promoting violence delivering public speeches, which led him to become White America’s #1 enemy.Both civil rights leaders, Malcolm X and Dr. King became icons within the black community, whom primary goal were to spread self knowledge and respect. Dr King, who was a calm idealistic man preached about equality for blacks without violence.
With the help of the media, Dr. King was able to spread his message and through a non-violent way. However, Malcolm X in many ways was known as an extremist. “For most of the time that he spent as an Islamic minister, he preached about separatism between blacks and whites.He also preached about Black Nationalism, and as some would call it, "black supremacy (Daniels, 1990) .
The difference between Dr. King and Malcolm X was that, Dr. King believed that through strong leadership, non-violent antics and hard work, black could win the right to become equal with whites. Malcolm X on the other hand, promoted a black power movement, which promoted violence if necessary.
Malcolm X spoke of separation and national strategies to help blacks survive, displaying the role of an angry back man against racism in America.Today, Dr. King and Malcolm X are known as heroes who fought for blacks to have equal right during the civil rights movement. Both men were strong speakers that encouraged blacks to work together to eliminate racism. Even though Malcolm X and Dr. King had different ways of delivering their messages, blacks respected their message, which was to help blacks achieve equality between whites and blacks.
