0782741 May 16, 2012 Seminar 123 Professor Sensi

0782741
May 16, 2012
Seminar 123
Professor Sensi- Isolani
Multiple Angles of Reach for Equality:
A Comparison of two Civil Rights Activists
Question: Violence and inequality and how to deal with them are themes covered in the
second part of our readings. Choose one or both of these themes and address how they are
treated by at least two of the authors we have read.
Inequality and how it should be addressed is a common topic presented by some of
the important twentieth century writers and figures, among them, Martin Luther King Jr.,
and Malcolm X. I found it very fascinating to compare and contrast Martin Luther King Jr.’s
view of inequality and usefulness of violence to Malcolm X’s. As two of the major known
figures of the Civil Rights Movement, their views and motives were fairly similar while
their actions and plans were not. Reading speeches and letters delivered directly from the
men living in the awful, unjust situations being described had a great, memorable impact.
The two readings from these activists, A Letter from Birmingham Jail and The Ballot or the
Bullet, are ones that will stay with me as I finish the seminar program at St. Mary’s College.
King discusses inequality, noting that it is extremely unjust and an important issue to be
addressed, however, he does not believe it should be addressed violently. He instead
organizes non-violent protests. Malcolm X on the other hand carries the same theme of
addressing inequality, but does so in a “by any means necessary” way and coins the
expression “the ballot or the bullet”. In comparing these two activists we can see how they
Alonso |2
went about seeking peace and not only what they did, but who they addressed and what
their exact goals were.
Inequality is a theme that is constantly addressed and described by Malcolm X and
is the purpose of his writings. He states his concerns and the injustices that surround him
in a very straight forward way; what is unfair is unfair, and he is going to stand up and do
something about it. He explains, “Now in speaking like this, it does not mean that we’re
anti-white, but it does mean that we are anti-exploitation, we’re anti-degradation, and
we’re anti-oppression” (109). These are the repeated core issues that he presents which all
stem from the basis of inequality. Further he states “I’m not a politician… I don’t even
consider myself an American… Everything that came out of Europe, every blue eyed thing,
is already American” (110). This brings a personal note and further explains inequality
using his own feelings of being un-American. This raises the deep, unexplained issue that
Whites feel a sense of entitlement simply because of the color of their skin. Injustices, even
if people of color have been in America for just as long as some whites, they are not even
allowed to feel like Americans. They are suppressed and Malcolm X was one to finally
stand up to convince people of the injustices. Malcolm himself states “I’m speaking as a
victim of this American system” (111) in which he states that he does not feel part of
America, but instead a victim in what has been created. The government is where the
problem is and in order to address the inequality, one must find the source which is what
Malcolm X does right away. He states, “The same government that you go abroad to fight
for and die for is the government that is in a conspiracy to deprive you of your voting
rights, deprive you of your economic opportunities, deprive you of your decent housing,
Alonso |3
deprive you of decent education” (114). Not only does Malcolm X address the source of the
inequality, he brings advice and a call to action plan.
In very similar ways, Martin Luther King Junior addresses the inequality and brings
about a call to action in his Letters from Birmingham Jail. King states from the very
beginning “I am here because injustice is here” (95) which begins the theme of injustice in
his writing and gives us his purpose for writing right away. In telling us that he is there
because that is where the injustices are, we see that the injustices are where his letter will
be focused. He also tells us that he is “So compelled to carry the gospel of freedom” (95)
seeming to tie into his religious beliefs. King was a minister and began to feel it necessary
to spread his message of freedom not only through his own community, but to all people of
color. Martin Luther King also wished that more people would see these injustices. He
states, “I had hoped the white moderate would see this, maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe
I expected too much. I guess I should have realized that few members of a race that has
oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate
yearnings of those that have been oppressed, and still fewer have the vision to see that
injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action” (103-104). King
really digs into the meanings of these injustices that they face and are dealing with. We
learn from his stern language that he is serious about expelling these injustices and
bringing equality to those who are oppressed. His major statement of “Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere” (95) reminds us just how important these inequalities are
to him.
Alonso |4
Next we can look and the two activists and their response to violence as a means of
dealing with the inequality. Malcolm X begins his speech by stating “I myself am a minister,
not a Christian minister, but a Muslim minister; and I believe in action on all fronts by
whatever means necessary” (109) showing us that while he is very passionate about
reaching equality, he is willing to go to extremes, including violence, if necessary. We see
this as he describes gorilla war fare as something that they may encounter and in his
reoccurring statement of the “ballot or the bullet.” While he recognizes the option of
negotiation and compromise, he also recognizes that that may not get the desired results
quick enough and that violence or “the bullet” may become necessary. “We want freedom
now, but we’re not going to get it saying ‘We Shall Overcome’ We’ve got to fight until we
overcome” (120). “We will work with anybody, anywhere, at any time, who is genuinely
interested in tackling the problem head on, nonviolently as long as the enemy is nonviolent,
but violent when the enemy is violent” (123). This is the main contrast to Martin Luther
King because he believed in no violence no matter what the situation may be, while
Malcolm X was very willing to use violence whenever he felt necessary, or when his enemy
became violent. It may have appeared in a forceful way, but Malcolm X did get his point
across and it was understood and received by many.
We see that Martin Luther King was fighting for the same freedom that Malcolm X
was, just in a different way. King stressed constantly that they would never act out in
violence, but that they may use direct action, as they were said to be “on call to engage in a
nonviolent direct action program if such were deemed necessary” (94). Some would ask
King why he was organizing sit ins and marches instead of negotiating, to which he
Alonso |5
responded with a direct answer of “You are right in calling for negotiation. Indeed it is the
very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and
foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced
to confront the issue” (96). Protests were King’s way to nonviolently call attention to the
inequality that could no longer be ignored. Because he believed that freedom would not
just be voluntarily granted, he strove to prove that by protesting peacefully, a change could
be made. King, very different from Malcolm X, took extreme measures to prepare his
followers to remain peaceful. “[They] began workshops on nonviolence, and repeatedly
asked [themselves]: ‘Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?’” (100). With his
men trained to remain peaceful at all times, I believe that King made an even greater
statement than Malcolm X did. While Malcolm X proved that he could attain his goals by
being extremely forceful, King proved that he could achieve the same goals with remaining
peaceful and never retaliating.
The manner in which each speech was delivered says a lot about the individual and
what their motives and values were at the time of their writing. Both men carried a similar
tone of desperation, immediacy and passion. King expresses fully his honest beliefs and
tells in his letters not only what should be done to reach justice, but also where the
problems stem from and his disappointment in the white moderates who prefer “a negative
peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice”
(100). The words “equality eventually” were not enough for King; he wanted justice and he
wanted it immediately. He made this very clear in his speech through his tone and his
direct language that stated exactly what we should all expect. As he speaks he seems to
Alonso |6
address both the oppressed black audience which he places himself amongst, and the white
audience who needs to recognize their right to equality. For example in his statement
“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever” (106) he is directly addressing the
white clergymen, but it may also inspire the blacks and encourage them that a change can
be made as he uses the term “we.” King uses a very new testament forgiving approach in
order to stand up for Human Rights, while Malcolm X uses a much more old testament, “eye
for an eye” approach. Malcolm’s diction seemed to infer that he wrote in order to rally the
Blacks together to fight for their rights because his “we want freedom now” attitude would
most likely not have come across as well to the Whites.
Even if written to different audiences, the two activists carried identical themes and
points as they searched for civil rights and equality. Both Martin Luther King and Malcolm
X are still very well known today for their great contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
Because of their tactics I would have said that King was more successful in
known as successful today or not
why I will remember them
how they mught view world today
Alonso |7
Pages numbers refer to their corresponding writings in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
Thought second edition book