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Research Paper on Malcolm X & Martin Luther King Jr.

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Submitted By Csaint66
Words 2834
Pages 12
Christian St. Germaine
Mr. Gomez
American Literature
15 April 2015
The Great Racial Debate; and Differences of Malcolm X and
Martin Luther King Jr. for Racial Equality America in the 1960s was marked by an era of unfortunate segregation, violence and unrest towards African Americans in the country. They faced often-brutal violence and a government that had forgotten them in regards to human rights. Blacks needed something to be done about the harm and inequality they were facing at the time. Fortunately, two men in particular rose to the occasion to fight for what they believed in. They focused on achieving the same goal of a better society for Blacks. However, they differed greatly in regards to how they sought to complete this goal. While Malcolm X often viewed the problem as a war and wanted to ensure that his people would have the means and the power to fight back against the harmful Whites. Martin Luther King Jr. believed it would be more beneficial to both parties if the violence ceased to exist. The struggle for racial equality caused Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. to seek separate and contradictory methods of achieving what they felt was right for African Americans. One main difference between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. was their distinctive childhoods. The two men were raised under dissimilar circumstances and environments. It can be supposed that the way they grew up directly relates to the views they had on the racial problems and the way they dealt with them. Malcolm X (1925 – 1965) had a terrible way of life as a child. The potential for violence he faced from Whites each day resulted in a fear and terror of them. His father recalled how, “he had seen four of his six brothers die by violence, three of them killed by white men, including one by lynching.” (Haley 14) Malcolm constantly faced the news of another relative killed

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