Peace Or Violence

”You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can’t talk about ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really tampering and getting on dangerous ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing with captains of industry…. Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong… with capitalism…. There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.”

King spoke out directly against the system of government that allowed him to say what he felt, showing the world that he could not be silenced just because his skin was a certain colour. His powerful speaking and elegant use of language was revolutionary.

With Martin Luther King becoming the most successful man to ever speak out about equal rights in the United States, and Malcolm X being forced into his shadow it is easily said that Martin Luther King has proven that non violence is the best choice. Malcolm X tried to hold a position of “Violence if necessary” but even he ended up falling short of his own words, with his approach turning more peaceful every time he made a speech. Malcolm’s criminal record also drew people away from him and toward King. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were both men that helped to bring about change in the way that the African American’s were segregated against, but King’s approach of using peace over violence was clearly what chiseled out his spot in the history books, after all, anyone can be violent, but only Martin Luther King Jr. could turn the violence into peace.

Bibliography

Asante, Molefi K. Malcolm X as Cultural Hero: and Other Afrocentric Essays (Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, 1993)

Haley, Alex (Interviewer), Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malcolm X (New York: Random house, 1999)

King Jr., Martin Luther. (Frogmore, S.C. November 14, 1966. Speech in front of his staff.)

King Jr., Martin Luther. The Measure of a Man (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, October, 2001

King Jr., Martin Luther. A Testament of Hope : The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (S.F. HarperSanFrancisco, December 7, 1990) Page 536

King Jr., Martin Luther. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (Speech) (April 4, 1967)

Myers, Walter Dean. Malcolm X : By Any Means Necessary,(New York: Scholastic Paperbacks, February 1, 1994)

Shmuel, Ross. “March on Washington” July 2005

Wise, Tim. “Misreading the Dream” Tolerance in the News Jan. 28, 2003