Discuss the different methods used by Malcolm X and Martin Luther king Jr in campaigning for civil rights.

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Discuss the different methods used by Malcolm X and Martin Luther king Jr in campaigning for Civil Rights

Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X were two black men who were both after the same thing, a better life for black people.  They didn’t want to be treated differently just because of the colour of their skin.  The difference between the two is how they went about achieving their aims and how their aims differed between the two men.

Martin Luther King had a different upbringing to Malcolm X.  He was from a middle class family, whose name was well established in Atlanta.  He was a smart student, who skipped two grades before entering an Ivy League college at the age of 15.  He was class valedictorian with an A average.  His home environment was full of dreams and love, were they had strong values which showed a sense of self worth.  Through the upbringing that he had, he adopted an ideology of how black and white people would live together as equals.

This was totally different to Malcolm X’s upbringing.  He was also a smart individual, but he didn’t have the encouragement that King did.  His father was killed when Malcolm was six, when the Klu Klux Klan burnt his house.  His mother, later, had a break down which meant that his seven siblings and himself were put into foster care.  He was not able to pursue a career in Law like he wanted to, even though he was an intelligent child.  He instead, dropped out of school, started taking cocaine and spent time in prison after forming a burglary ring to support his drug addiction.   He had suffered violence at home from both of his parents and also from going to an integrated school.  He lived in a ghetto and had a rebellious and angry life.  Through his experiences, he wanted to develop the black community, that was independent and free from the dependency of the white people, and to be better than the whites.  He was very rebellious and angry and wanted revenge.  He used direct action and didn’t oppose violence like King did.

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King believed in non-violence to achieve his goals.  He wanted to gain self-respect, high moral standards, hard work and leadership among the people.  He believed in peaceful protests and going through the legislative process to make changes.  It would take time, but he was looking to the future, and the long-term effects of his actions and the civil rights movement.

Malcolm X had followed the teachings of Elijah Mohammed and the Muslim religion in later life.  It was during his time in prison, where going in, he was an atheist but by the time he came out, he ...

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