After a return from pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, X felt he had found the real Muslim religion, whilst still advocating Black Nationalism and violence if necessary. X later changed his mind and decided that blacks should co-operate with whites, rather than being separated from one another to fight against racism.
Politically X formed his own organisations. He formed the 'Militant Mosque', which was very militant and in 1964 formed the 'Organisation of Afro American Community'. This was in order to bring black people together and form a sense of unity within the African-American society. X like King was also able to inspire others. The black panthers were formed from the inspiration of X. This shows the influential power of X and his ability to make people believe in him.
When Malcolm X was killed by murder, the nation of Islam went into decline, which shows how great the influence of X was to a huge organisation. Other more non-violent groups were formed following his death, which shows he was an influential person and became recognised worldwide. Many people agreed with his views. He was an important leading figure in the civil rights movement.
Why had Civil Rights Activists had limited success in the United States by 1968?
The aim of civil rights activists was to achieve equality for blacks in the US. The fact that they achieved only limited success is due to many reasons.
There was much prejudice against blacks for example groups such as the KKK strongly disagreed with the movement and used violent tactics to show this. The civil rights movement was weakened by splits and had therefore not by 1968, had enough time to change people's opinions and entrenched views. There was also a great deal of weakness in the Democratic Party and the distraction of the Vietnam War.
Socially the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was partial because it didn't solve racial disharmony in Alabama. Buses were fired at, black leaders houses were bombed and those charged with assault were all acquitted. However this brought about national attention to the cause of the civil rights movement and was the start of increasing support from both blacks and whites.
Although the sit-ins were overall successful and civil rights did achieve success with the Freedom Rides not all lunch counters were desegregated. However hundreds of other stores desegregated their lunch counters and this provided a major morale boost to the civil rights movement. Only limited success was achieved because this was the beginning of desegregation with much opposition faced at first.
The activist failed in the Alabama movement due to no clear targets being set of the intentions of the movement and no precision in planning. Little was achieved due to conflict developing between the black leaders and the SCLC. This weakened the movement. The release of civil rights leader Martin Luther King contributed to the decline in the movement as he was criticised for this.
The Children's Crusade achieved success but this was limited as many criticised this campaign due to children protesting rather than adults. Many black civil right leaders disagreed with this movement including Malcolm X who said, "Real people don't put their children on the firing line". This created more disharmony within the black community and the white community.
The bloody Sunday event split the civil rights movement. Young members of the SNCC wanted to retaliate and felt King was too cowardly and timid to lead the protest. Black riots therefore resulted in a white backlash, as many disagreed with this tactic, due to millions of dollars worth of damage in cities. This showed more difference between the black leaders and rather than working together they worked opposite each other in achieving the same goal. The expulsion of whites from the civil rights groups resulted in them being alienated which therefore showed lack of support to the cause and it also caused a split between the black civil rights movement. This achieved very limited success.
Politically the NAACP's court case of Briggs versus Elliot did not succeed, however the NAACP was optimistic for appeal. Little success was achieved because civil rights were only beginning to become an important issue within the country; this was only the start of the route to change. At this time there was much opposition from both the government in party and those in congress. Therefore the weakness of the Democratic Party is another important factor in limited success of the movement. Things could not and would not change overnight. Congress resisted Truman's civil rights legislative programme, and army generals resisted for more than two years to desegregate the armed forces. This costed him the Democratic vote, which was as numerically significant as the black vote. The president needed more support in able to make more changes.
Although the march on Washington was a success it still did not change the mind of congress. They disagreed with the civil rights bill of 1961 as it contained many influential southerners. The fact that King was accused of being indecisive and many disliked him in New York, Birmingham and Florida also contributed to the limited amount of success achieved. Arguments had once again formed between him and the SCLC.
The most important factor for limited success to the movement, was due to the distraction and the expense of the Vietnam war which preoccupied President Lyndon Johnson, as he was therefore unable to base great attention to the civil rights cause. This held back domestic reform.
To conclude: the reasons why blacks achieved little was due to lack of organisation and the conflicts between the civil rights groups which made them weaker. By working together more could have been achieved. Also the prejudice of many whites was difficult to change by 1968, and weak governments led to very little legalisation being passed. The most important factor overall was the distraction of the Vietnam War.
