History of the United States

Preliminary Essay

Prompt 2: In what ways and areas did King’s and Malcolm’s views significantly converge during each one’s last year or two? Did they bridge all their disagreements? Respond to these questions by writing an essay and drawing on the primary source evidence found in Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s.
Thesis: While the two never fully reconciled their beliefs, both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. experienced philosophical changes that allowed for a convergence of ideas throughout the final years of each leader’s public career.

Approach: Upon initial reading of the book, it was interesting that Malcolm X began to question the Nation of Islam in favor of a more traditional Muslim perspective, which likely led to a more open understanding of King’s approach. Conversely, King came to recognize that the progress, no matter how significant, was not enough to achieve the overarching goals of the Civil Rights Movement. This would suggest that each leader had life experiences that allowed them to acknowledge one another’s perspectives, even if they were not fully embraced. For this preliminary search for examples, I have focused on points where initial perspectives of one
another were evident, along with indications of convergence. In subsequent searches, I further support the concept that, upon Malcolm’s shift from the Nation of Islam, the leader came to be

more supportive of Martin Luther King, Jr’s approach to protest. King later acknowledged that the peaceful movement had not achieved enough to establish equality.

Example #1: In 1963, Malcolm spoke of King in the following: “White people follow

King. White people pay King. White people support King. But the masses of black people do not support Martin Luther King. King is the best weapon that the white man, who wants to brutalize Negroes, has ever gotten in this country, because he is setting the situation where, when the
white man wants to attack the Negroes, they can’t defend themselves” (Howard-Pitney et al. 161).
Explanation #1: This example serves as a bold introduction to Malcolm’s early views of King’s philosophy and the non-violent approach to equality. According to the quote, Malcolm believed that King was essentially a weapon or pawn for the white man with the sole purpose of keeping Black people from ever having any real stance in the nation. Malcolm referred to King’s philosophy as ‘foolish’ as it prevented his people from defending themselves.

Example #2: “On June 30, 1964, Malcolm sent King a telegram in St. Augustine, Florida, which read: ‘If the federal government will not send troops to your aid, just say the word and we will immediately dispatch some of our brothers to organize self defence units among our people, and the Ku Klux Klan will then receive a taste of its own medicine” (Howard-Pitney et al. 31).
Explanation #2: In this example, Malcolm is demonstrating support for King and suggesting that the government should protect these non-violent protestors. Yet, Malcolm maintains that he is
willing to use force, if necessary, but indicates that he would prefer to serve as a defender rather than an aggressor. This was an interesting shift because the earlier quote suggested that King did

not believe in defending themselves, yet Malcolm extended protection so that King could continue to share his philosophy.

Example #3: In 1963, while still a spokesperson for the NOI, Malcolm stated, “God must first destroy this evil Western World, the white world…a wicked world, ruled by a race of devils” (Howard-Pitney et al., 138).
Explanation #3: This example shows that Malcolm’s ties to the NOI directly impacted how he perceived the path toward liberation from white society. This differs from his call for the federal government (which was white) to support this liberation, demonstrating that the later years were driven by a shift in ideologies that allowed for a convergence of views.

Example #4: “For years I labored with the idea of reforming the existing institutions, a little here, a little there. Now I feel differently. I think you’ve got to go for a reconstruction of the whole society, a total revolution of values” (King as cited by Howard-Pitney et al. 163).
Explanation #4: This example reveals how King eventually realized that some of his more

adamant views of equality were too narrow and accepting of the status quo. While not as radical as Malcolm’s approaches, King started to call for the re-valuation of what it meant to be a part of American society.