Martin Luther King vs. Malcom X Debate - Essay Example

Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X Debate Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were two great men who led people using different means. On one end, Martin strove to bring peace and unite people by preaching a message of peace while Malcolm was ready to apply any means necessary in order to prove his point (Keith and Anissa 33). This entails that, their reasoning, arguments, and support for their message was different. Their debate is very essential in today’s literature studies. Particularly, most of the things discussed in their speeches are of great essence to contemporary, historical studies.

This paper intends to give the essence of the debate between Martin and Malcolm and state specific points of disagreements between the two. Finally, the paper will take a neutral stance based on their arguments. Arguably, there is noticeable indifference in Martin’s way of leadership especially in cases where he talked about Civil Rights. In his quest for Equal rights to all people, Martin deliberated for a non-violent protest, passive resistance, and use of what he termed as the “Weapons of love”.

With reference to these protesting means, it is seeable that Martin’s fight for Civil Rights involved simple and friendly methods. On the other end, Malcolm X was a great leader, but unfortunately, his means of fighting for Civil Rights were rather outrageous than those of Martin Luther King. At some point, analysts point out that Malcolm X was suspicious of the whites and was ready to apply “any methods necessary” in order to achieve equality (Keith and Anissa 48). Additionally, the debate between these two great leaders is very substantial as it gives the best understanding of weapons used by leaders during activism.

The video of King and Malcolm shows that, as long as he strove to achieve what he felt best for his people, Malcolm was a segregationist up until his renowned pilgrimage to Mecca since he was a Muslim. In the video, Martin’s reasoning was rather rationale unlike that of X whose arguments depicted uncertainty in various occasions. For instance, before his highly spoken departure to Mecca, X’s attitude towards racial discrimination against blacks depicted rather uneven correspondence with that Martin.

As such, his Black Muslim brothers, under the royalty of Elijah Mohammed, revolted and started viewing X as a threat to the Black Muslim Movement. Specifically, the debate between Martin and X shown profound disagreements with regard to the arguments, reasoning and quotes brought about by both leaders. In the case of Martin, struggle for Equality for Blacks sought to employ non-violent, peaceful means just as Martin said in the video that the fight for Civil Rights should “speak out for non-violence”.

X’s means and reasoning was rather violent one since he was ready to use “any means necessary” to liberate African Americans from inhumanities that faced them (Keith and Anissa 57). In conclusion, I find the debate between X and Martin as educative and crucial to the current studies of African American struggle for liberation or freedom and ethnic studies. In my view, Martin’s arguments and support for his reasoning was substantial and sought to establish a figurative leadership among other.

Otherwise, X’s state of arguing and reasoning highlighted violent means where he would do anything, according to his speeches, to achieve his goal (Keith and Anissa 81). To some extent, his arguments appear self-centered and egocentric instead of seeming decisive. Nevertheless, this paper has resolved to bring about the essence of the debates held by these two great men, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and highlighted the disagreements within and among their arguments, reasoning, and support.

Then, concluded by taking a stance with regard to their speeches.Works CitedKeith, Gilyard and Anissa, Wardi. African American Literature. New York, NY: Penguin/Pearson, 2004. Print.King, Martin and Malcolm, X. Web, November 20, 2012.