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The Civil Rights Movement was a prevalent event in the 1960s. The African American
population of America was fed up with the way they were being treated. Slavery had been
abolished a century before this, but blacks were still not treated the same as whites. There were
still segregated bathrooms, restaurants, schools, and even drinking fountains. Two leading figures
of this time period were Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Both of these men were
quite influential during the Civil Rights Movement, but they had different views. King called for
nonviolent protests while Malcolm called for violent protests. Kings nonviolent method would
be most effective since violence only creates more problems and his goal was to be accepted by
According to King, violence only creates more problems. King advocated for
nonviolence because he wanted change to come as quickly as possible. He said that violence will
only prolong the solution of the situation. If one side uses violence, then the other side will
retaliate with violence and the situation will escalate, making a negotiation for peace harder to
achieve. In one of his speeches, King states, If one is in search for a better job, it does not help
to burn down the factory. If one needs more adequate education, shooting this principle will not
help, or if housing is the goal, only building and construction will produce that end. King is
trying to say that if someone wants change, violence is not the answer. Violence will only make
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the situation worse for both sides, making the path to peace and change even longer. Malcolm X
supported violent protests because he thought it was the only way change could be achieved. He
was willing to go to the extreme for change because he wanted change and he wanted it as soon
as possible. Malcolm X said in one of his speeches, Itll be Molotov cocktails this month, hand
grenades next month, and something else next month. Itll be ballots, or itll be bullets. Itll be
liberty, or it will be death. This is where his ideas are false. He may have not thought about the
possible repercussions of violent protests; many innocent people being killed. I also believe he
thought that violence was the only answer, that there would be no equality without violence.
However, this is incorrect since violence only escalates situations. Even though the whites
treated the blacks terribly, someone had to step up, look past all the discrimination and
segregation, and civilly demand for change; King was the one to do this.
As King said in a speech of his, The American racial revolution has been a revolution to
get in rather than to overthrow. Kings goal for the Civil Rights Movement was to simply gain
the same rights as a white man. Slavery had been abolished a century ago, but blacks were still
not treated the same as whites. King did not want to overthrow the whites, he wanted blacks to
be equal to whites. Thus he did not need to use violence to achieve his goal. Malcolm X on the
other hand thought the only way to achieve equality was to fight. In one of his speeches,
Malcolm X states, The ballot or the bullet. If youre afraid to use an expression like that, you
should get on out of the country; you should get back in the cotton patch; you should get back in
the alley. It is clear that Malcolm Xs goal was to inflict pain on the whites whom had caused
his fellow African Americans decades of discrimination. His mindset was that they should fight
(physically) until they get what they want or die trying. Malcolm X wanted his fellow
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companions to be with him or against him; there was no middle ground. However, this more
radical mentality would lead to many casualties and only create more problems. The whites
would fight back and put more restrictions on the blacks. The whites had the upper hand and
King realized this. He realized that the only way to be accepted into society was not by fighting,
Although the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s succeeded in creating civil rights laws
for African Americans, the discrimination did not end. Today, African Americans are still
discriminated against, but in different ways than they were 50 years ago. A popular movement
today is the Black Lives Matter movement. They stand up for all black lives and fight for justice
for any blacks killed unjustly. Like Martin Luther King Jr. and his movement, this movement
strives to be peaceful and does not violently protest. In todays world, violence would only bring
more problems and more hostility from both sides. Also, blacks today are still striving to become
equal with whites. Kings ideas and the ideas of other leaders from the Civil Rights Movement