Malcolm at last gained an education as he devoured books in prison about black civilisations and struggles against injustice.
‘I never will forget how shocked I was when I began reading about slavery’s total horror … Book after book showed me how the white man had brought upon the world’s black, brown, red and yellow peoples every variety of the sufferings of exploitation’. (4)
This demonstrates that both King and Malcolm X’s education, family circumstances and experiences of white people almost certainly affected their reactions to white society. Perhaps this provides some of the reasons to explain their different approaches to the crucial question of human rights.
The concept of rights needs examining in some detail.
The American Constitution states that all citizens of the USA are born free and equal (Declaration of Independence). King and Malcolm X were fighting for their rights under the American Constitution. These ideas date back to Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) who lived during the time of the English Civil War. Hobbes described life as ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’ and as ‘Contention, enmity and war’
Hobbes argued that to survive in these conditions, we need a social contract, which is a theory of rights whereby humans have freedom and personal security. These ideas were developed by John Locke (1632 – 1704) who stated that individuals have rights and freedoms which government has to preserve and protect. These principles were also developed by Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) who saw the social contract guaranteeing individual freedom and by Paine (1737-1809) who was one of the
(3) Universal Negro Improvement Association
(4) The Autobiography of Malcolm X
thinkers behind the American Declaration of Independence. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) noted that a social contract could be unfair to minorities. This was developed by John Rawls (1921 – 2002). Rawls opposes utilitarianism because he believed that the greatest good could not be pursued without minorities experiencing injustice. Vardy (5) describes Rawls’ theories of justice (6) as communitarian in principle, unlike Hobbes theory of Individualism.
Rawls agrees with Hobbes that we must not harm each other, but he adds that we also have a moral obligation to assist those who are worst off in society. Therefore justice is not a just a question of rights but with Rawls, it is also a question of fairness.
These ideas of fairness and justice are reflected in the life’s work of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X as illustrated below
By studying the world that both King and Malcolm X experienced as adults, (7) you can see that although the Constitution guaranteed equality before the law for everyone, in everyday life, black people were discriminated against through local law.
For example:
The Montgomery bus boycott by blacks in 1955 fuelled the beginnings of civil rights protest in May 1961. In spring 1963, a series of demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama led by Martin Luther King Jr., were met with mass arrests by the city police, but resulted in a settlement containing most black demands. The Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, also led by King, furthered the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act.
The illegality of miscegenation is another law showing white supremacy and discrimination towards black people. The apartheid policy of social segregation that existed in South Africa until 1994 legally prohibited miscegenation. Similarly in the United States, laws existed against marriage between members of different groups until the Supreme Court declared them unconstitutional in 1967.
Segregated schools often prevented black people from getting an appropriate education. Black children were forced to attend separate schools from white children, often receiving a poorer education as a result of the less developed schools they had to attend. This segregation also encouraged white children to grow up with a view of superiority over blacks.
Blacks were not protected from racism, as a white person would be. Many black people were insulted, persecuted, assaulted, even killed due to the lack of protection provision by the state. Martin Luther King’s friend the Reverend C.T. Vivian said ‘What kind of people are you that in the name of the Law, you destroy Law, in the name of Justice, you destroy Justice?’
_____________________________________________________________________(5) Puzzle of Ethics page 135
(6) A Theory of Justice 1971
(7) The People’s Century 1900 – 1999 BBC video
Martin Luther King in 1966 addressed economic inequality for the black minority in Chicago.
‘Now is the time… to fulfil the promises of democracy. Now is the time to get rid of the slums and ghettos of Chicago. Now is the time to make justice a reality, now is the time.’
King continues to work with the democratic promises of America.
Malcolm X also spoke passionately about inequality to black audiences:
‘You’re not an American. You’re a victim of America’
‘I’m not an American, you’re not an American, you’re one of the two million victims of America. We’ve never seen Democracy, all we’ve seen is hypocrisy.’
But he views democracy as a sham.
A libertarian would disagree with King and Malcolm X’s belief in equality, arguing that one has the right to life, liberty and differences in the degree of property ownership. Scholars such as Rand and Hospers do not believe that you have the right to others’ property without working for it, for example, the black community, mostly living in the ghetto, were expected to work to improve their lives. However, because blacks were discriminated against, they had little opportunity to improve themselves. (8)
Martin Luther King would disagree with libertarianism. He would invoke Christian teachings
‘The God of the Universe says – ‘but I was hungry and you fed me not’’
Martin Luther King’s views are more in line with Rawls who views justice as fairness. Rawls’ Theory of Justice can be explained like a cake. People decide how the cake should be shared out but are not allowed to know which piece they will get. Rawls will argue therefore that they will want every piece to be the same size, and this is equality.
The debate is ongoing about how minorities achieve justice, rights and equality.
As an individual or minority the question often remains how to obtain rights and justice in your own country, which claims you have rights, but fails to provide them.
The answer Malcolm X gave is that these rights will be demanded through violent means if necessary.
(8) Nina Rosenstand, page 261, ‘The Moral of the Story’ – Mayfield 2000.
‘We thought that by following those ignorant Negro preachers, that it was Godlike to turn the other cheek to the brute that was brutalising us…Well nowadays, just like olden times they are trying to teach us to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us. You got those chicken-pickin’ Uncle Tom so called Negro leaders today that are telling us we ought to pray for our enemies,
Love our enemies,
Integrate with our enemies,
Who bombs us, shoots us, kills us lynches us, rapes our women and children.
No, No, No.
That’s not intelligent, that’s not intelligent.
We have the right to defend ourselves.’(9)
Malcolm X takes the line therefore that black people have to fight against white people to insist upon their rights and should refuse to work with white people in all circumstances. He held this view until late in his life. This is known as individualism.
Perhaps the violence in Malcolm X’s upbringing persuades him to believe that one can use violence to get justice. In this way he is emulates Thrasymachus in Plato’s Republic. (10)
He argues that justice is in the interest of the stronger i.e. the one who has the power.
More recently, Karl Marx argues that society progresses by way of conflict between classes. You could argue that Marx takes a utilitarian view in which the consequences for happiness in the long run out way the pain felt by the minority, who maybe victims of violence along the way. This could be said of Malcolm X, who died at the age of 39, still fighting for equality.
One man chose to work with whites and the other against them. Martin Luther King worked with the community to achieve his goals. He did not discriminate against white people and had many white supporters. However, Malcolm X for most of his life refused to allow whites to join his organisation. He believed that the actions of specific individuals reflected on the entire race
The quote above indicates he criticised Martin Luther King and other pacifists.
Malcolm X is individualistic and decides that he will take what is due to him and those he represents, with violence, if necessary. Whereas, Martin Luther King, picks up an older communitarian idea which depends upon the community, both black and white, working in harmony together. We can understand why he thought this because of his generally positive experiences of white people.
(9) www.blackhistory.eb.com
(10) Teach yourself Ethics, page 119, Thompson M – Hodder & Stoughton 2000.
‘We will use that ballot well. We can transform the jangling discords of the State of Alabama into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. If we use that ballot well, we can transform the dark yesterdays of man’s inhumanity to man, into the bright tomorrow for justice and freedom for all of God’s children
If we use the ballot well.’ . . (11)
In conclusion:
Martin Luther King had an ideal inclusive vision.
‘I have a dream…’ (11)
Martin Luther King wanted all people black and white, to be part of the American dream and wanted peace and equality, whereas Malcolm X was a realist. He believed in practicality, propounding that only direct action would make any real difference.
Martin Luther King was near exhaustion from the immense pressure put upon him due to his beliefs and the efforts to promote his ideas. He was undeterred, however, for as he put it on April 3, 1968, he had
‘been to the mountain top and seen the Promised Land’.(11)
The very next day King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
Some 100,000 people attended his funeral in Atlanta. A white escaped convict, James Earl Ray, was arrested for the murder and pleaded guilty and in March 1969 was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Both men wanted radical change. Malcolm X was practical. He approached the struggle from disadvantage with a clear and single-minded aim of the advance of the black population, aggressively challenging and disregarding the interests of the white majority. Only later in his life did he absorb and promote the broader interest of all races. He subsequently formed his own protest group, the Organisation of Afro-American Unity, renouncing his earlier racism against white people. While addressing a rally in 1965, Malcolm X was also assassinated. It was suspected that Black Muslims were responsible for his murder. Malcolm X’s separatist view that blacks were superior to whites began to change when he made the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj. He began moving towards a more inclusive view after spending time with Muslims of all races in Mecca. He described this as:
‘In all honesty ……I want freedom justice, equality, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for all people.’
‘We are all brothers truly. People of all colours and races believing in one God and one humanity’(12)
___________________________________________________________________
(11) Martin Luther King The Legacy (ITV 1988)
(12) Lees “Malcolm X the video (Guild 1992).
Both men had substantial effects upon the American society in which they lived and campaigned, and upon the debates and views of the wider world community. They were both inspirational speakers and persuaders. They both suffered early, violent deaths at the hands of opponents to their views. As with all martyrs, their words will be remembered and their actions and campaigns will be cited as instruments of change for many years to come.
Ultimately, their dream was the same, although their methods were not.
_____________________________________________________________________
Isobel Manley
April 2004
Bibliography
I obtained the information needed for this study from the following sources:
www.activehistory.co.uk
Vardy, Puzzle of Ethics, Oxford University Press Chapter 11 Page 134 -135
A Theory of Justice 1971 - Rawls
Nina Rosenstand, page 261, The Moral of the Story – Mayfield 2000.
Martin Luther King - The Legacy - ITV 1988
Teach yourself Ethics, page 119, Thompson M – Hodder & Stoughton 2000
The People’s Century 1900 – 1999 BBC video
The Autobiography of Malcolm X - Malcolm X and Alex Haley
http://www.quotesandsayings.com/martind.htm
http://www.blackhistory.eb.com/micro/321/84.html