Throughout the modern history of the United States, we have witnessed many important African American people who became the face of important movements. Whether it is Rosa Park's, a woman civil rights activist, or Al Sharpton, a male civil rights activist, many African Americans have stepped up in the face of adversity to fight for their cause. Two of the most well known activists, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm Little, also known as Malcolm X, were fighting for a similar cause but in different ways. King's view revolved around the idea of unity between all races in America; whereas Malcolm X led the idea of separation of races. While their first ideas were based on different thoughts, both men dreamed of equal rights for African Americans. This theme of equality is evident in Malcolm X's speech, Message to the Grass Roots, and a piece from King's first novel, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Titled The World House.

The similarities between Malcolm X and Dr. King are the themes of the oppression of African Americans and its connection to white supremacy, as well as the need for freedom. During the civil rights movement, both Dr. King and Malcolm X used their motivational voices to show the inequality between races in the United States. Most of these inequalities revolved around the excessive power the white supremacists had in our government. Dr. King aimed to end white supremacy by educating the public and to give ideas on how to share power. Malcolm X on the other hand, promoted violence, and thought killing white people in power could solve the difference between races. In order to understand the similarities with Dr. King and Malcolm X, you must understand the difference in their movements.

Malcolm X violent views against whites can be connected to the beliefs of his religious practices. Malcolm X was born into a Christian family, until he rejected those beliefs and became a member of the Nation of Islam, an Islamic religious movement founded in Detroit, Michigan to help the lives of African Americans. Nation of Islam has been labeled as a hate group, and similar to white supremacists ("Biography"). For a man who is so hard against the inequalities of African Americans it is odd that Malcolm X supported a group who is promoting the same message as the Ku Klux Klan. The only difference between Malcolm X's group and the KKK is Malcolm X's group hated whites and the KKK hated blacks. In his speech, Message to the Grass Roots, Malcolm X says, "Revolution is bloody, revolution is hostile, revolution knows no compromise, revolution overturns and destroys everything that gets in its way," (Little). Malcolm X wanted equality, but believed that they need a war to kill the whites in order to reach his goals. 

Dr. King on the other hand believed that in order to recieve equality, protests need to be done in a peaceful and respectful way. In The World House, Dr. King discusses how poverty and inequality worldwide has negatively affected the world. He also says how it is time to move past our differences to solve these issues. For example, Dr. King talked about all of the modern developments that have happened over the years including new technology and medicine, but still we are at war and there is still no equality. According to Dr. King, "Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself," (King, 283). By this he meant that eventually there will be changes in the world and people will fight until their ultimate goal is reached, which is to have freedom and equality. Dr. King used this idea that people will not remain oppressed as a view for his civil rights movement.

Dr. King and Malcolm X may have had entirely different ideas on how to achieve equality; their actual views did not vary much from each other. Both men had different amounts of influence on the black community, and used that to spread their messages and change the minds of those who opposed them. In order to be treated equally, you must first be free. Malcolm X and Dr. King believed free meant being able to walk onto a bus and sit wherever they would like and attending school without being threatened. However, many were not willing to fight for their rights. Dr. King believes that "One of the greatest liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social changes," (286). In the fifties and sixties, it was unsafe to protest against the government and social norms. Many people had feared the consequences of speaking against the government that praised the whites, and it was very difficult for the civil rights movements to gather supporters.

During the Civil Rights Movement, black people felt innocent and did not know why the violence was happening among. According to Malcolm X, "This is the way it is with the white man in America. He's a wolf and you're sheep," (Little). Black people were afraid to stand up for their rights, and for a long time did not have someone to lead them. Although their churches were being set on fire and their children murdered, it was not until Dr. King and Malcolm X came around that people were no longer afraid of the white males of Capitol Hill, and started to join the civil rights movement. As stated before, Malcolm X and Dr. King had opposite ideas of how to accomplish equality, but both men were still able to obtain the support of hundreds of thousands of people. Malcolm X was an important figure in the African American Islamic community, whereas Dr. King's influence reached across blacks and whites, women and men. People that were never given the opportunity to have a say, were finally given an opportunity to share their stories of inequality and to go out and fight for their rights.

Four years before the assassination of Dr. King and a year before the killing of Malcolm X, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Clarke). Most importantly, the Civil Rights Act also ended the racial segregation of schools, work places, and public accommodations (Clarke). Black children were now free to attend public schools with their white friends, and their parents were able to work jobs that they were not able to before. As a whole, the nation became stronger and more together than ever. No single race was above one another, and all religions could be praised without judgment. The Civil Rights Act not only positively changed the country, but also set off a cause and effect of legislative bills being passed to enhance the lives of every citizen of the United States. 

After the passing of the Civil Rights Act, other human rights movements grew faster. Less than a year later, women's rights activists also saw a huge win with the passing of the Voting Rights Act, giving women the right to vote (Clarke). Both Title IX and Roe vs. Wade has been passed, allowing women equal opportunities in higher education (Clarke). Without the civil rights movement, it would have been difficult for future activists to earn anything. The civil rights movement created future for those movements, but could also set what a movement should be like. In society, whenever there is a need for a movement, it is modeled after those led by Dr. King and Malcolm X.

Neither King nor Malcolm X survived to see how their movements affected the country. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee by a racist by the name of James Earl Ray. King's death went global and caused race riots in all major United States cities. In The World House, King stated, "Racism can well be that corrosive evil that will bring down the curtain on Western civilization," (King, 289). Malcolm X did not know at that time that he was the person that was brought down by racism. After the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X became a practicing Sunni Muslim (Little). While preparing to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity, three men from the Nation of Islam ambushed Malcolm X, and fired twenty-one shots at him. Both men were murdered at the age of thirty-nine, way too young for two people with so much influence to pass away (Little). 

After the deaths of King and Malcolm X, there is still a lot of room left for improvement. Even though the Civil Rights Act started equality in the world, there continues to be discrimination based on gender, race, and religion. For example, Dr. Kings mentions the statement by Thoreau, "Improved means to an unimproved end."  Without everything they were able to accomplish, we would currently be living in a different world. When Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X saw a problem with our society, they set out to fix it, for example Dr. King says, "Our problem today is that we have allowed the internal to become lost in the external." Their movements brought together the masses, and forced the government to make changes. 

Although, those who opposed them killed both Dr. King and Malcolm X, their legacy will continue to live on. Not only did they inspire a nation, they also taught us about civics and activism. We must remember what Malcolm X said in Message to the Grass Roots, "we must all forget our differences to fight for a greater cause." Although, discrimination has yet to disappear, in today's society there are similar movements such as Black Lives Matter and the NAACP, which fight for the rights of the African American culture. Dr. King had similar movements to the Black Lives Matter and the NAACP, as he says, "Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools." (286).

