For
this discussion I want to focus on the impact that Martin Luther King
had on the Civil Rights Movement. Would the Civil Rights Movement have
succeeded as it did without him? How did he and Malcolm X relate? I
think it is fairly evident that the movement in a way hinged on King
being a part of it, because it was his rallies that brought in and
inspired the people, and he fought to truly bring the races together.
This can be contrasted with Malcolm X, whose methods did not see the
same degree of success, and despite Malcolm X originally being a critic
of MLK, he ended up supporting some of his movements realizing that
King's methods were effective. Another point I want to look at is how
the Civil Rights Movement impacted politics as a whole. The NAACP was
able to rise as one of the most powerful organizations in politics for
years to come, and many of the movements such as Brown vs Board directly
impacted the way we viewed our government, and how the government would
have to view itself.
"It
was while studying here, that King learned about the non-violent
methods used by Mahatma Gandhi against the British in India. King became
convinced that such methods would be of great value to the civil rights
movement." (Trueman)
"The
final speaker was Martin Luther King and it was here that he made his
legendary 'I have a Dream' speech which was heard throughout the world
and did a huge amount to publicise the civil rights movement in America across the world." (Trueman)
"Not
long after the conclusion of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King wrote
'Stride Towards Freedom'. This was read by some students at Greensboro,
North Carolina and they started the student sit-in of the Woolworth's
lunch counter which had a policy of not serving African-Americans...
The same tactic - a non-violent response to violence - was also used by
the Freedom Riders in their campaign to desegregate transport." (Trueman)
"The NAACP’s anti-lynching campaign
of the 1930s combined widespread publicity about the causes and costs
of lynching, a successful drive to defeat Supreme Court nominee John J.
Parker for his white supremacist and anti-union views and then defeat
senators who voted for confirmation, and a skillful effort to lobby
Congress and the Roosevelt administration to pass a federal
anti-lynching law. Southern
senators filibustered, but they could not prevent the formation of a
national consensus against lynching; by 1938 the number of lynchings declined steeply... the
NAACP emerged from the campaign as the most influential civil rights
organization in national politics and maintained that position through
the mid-1950s. " (Janken)
"Far
more was at stake for these activists than changing the hearts of
whites. When the sit-ins swept Atlanta in 1960, protesters’ demands
included jobs, health care, reform of the police and criminal justice
system, education, and the vote." (Janken)
"Malcolm
X proposed to internationalize the black American freedom struggle and
to link it with liberation movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Thus the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was not concerned
exclusively with interracial cooperation or segregation and
discrimination as a character issue." (Janken)
"Malcolm
rejected integration with white America as a worthwhile aim (deriding
it as "coffee with a cracker") and particularly opposed non-violence as a
means of attaining it. "That's what you mean by non-violent," he said,
"be defenseless." (PBS)
"King
himself took the higher road, rarely criticizing Malcolm but also
refusing to publicly debate him. King would not debate, his secretary
told Malcolm, because 'he has always considered his work in a positive action framework rather than engaging in consistent negative debate.'" (PBS)
"He
accepted an invitation from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee to speak in Selma, Alabama, and had conciliatory words for
Coretta Scott King, whose husband was then in jail. 'I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to Selma to make his job difficult,' Malcolm said. 'If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King.'" (PBS)
Works Cited
Janken, Kenneth R. "The Civil Rights Movement: 1919-1960." TeacherServe.
National Humanities Center, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
<http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/crm.htm>.
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/malcolmx/peopleevents/e_civilrights.html>.
Trueman, Chris. "Martin Luther King." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/martin_luther_king.htm>.
I like how you were able to compare and contrast Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. in relation to the civil rights cause since they have two radically different methods for bringing about integration. While you did put a heavier focus on Martin Luther King Jr., that was to be expected since he had more of an effect in the social and political equality of blacks and whites. Also, I thought that your point on how the NAACP affected the American government was very interesting in the sense that it helped combine the two ideas of civil rights movement and government better.
ReplyDeleteI think it was important that you mentioned how recently some of the laws were passed. It added perspective to the discussion, made it seem less like ancient history. It's tempting to think of racism as dead, and maybe it is. But people have to remember that it wasn't that long ago, and it seemed like the discussion was heading towards the misconception that it was. Good job keeping it in line.
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