Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister that took part as a civil rights leader, in 1963, with his views of taking a more violent approach to the fight against segregation, while on the other hand, his fellow civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., believed that violence is never the answer. On November 10th, 1963, Malcolm delivered one of his famous speeches,  "Message to the Grassroots", in order to have the black community understand that they all had similarities and should accept his idea of having a more violent method. Malcolm describes major key points that influence the audience to unite as one and follow his footsteps into having a revolution that consisted of violence in order to gain equality. In his speech, he discusses the common enemy, the difference between the house and field Negro, the March on Washington, and the difference between the black and Negro revolution. In this essay, the topic the "common enemy", the difference between the field and house Negro, and the contradiction of Malcolm X's "Message to the Grassroots" will be discussed. 

In his speech, Malcolm gives the point of the black community, as a whole, is more similar than they think. In his speech, he discusses one of the things they all have in common, the common enemy, white people, and how they share a common ancestors. Malcolm explains that putting religions and political standpoints aside, the people of the African American community are all the same. He uses the examples from the Bandung Conference back in 1955, when Africa and Asia were sharing their common enemy: Europe. In "Message to the Grassroots", Malcolm also describes their common ancestors, the house and field Negros. He explains that the house Negros had more authority and more benefits than the field Negros. " The house Negroes - they lived in the house with master, they dressed pretty good, they ate good 'cause they ate his food   what he left. They lived in the attic or the basement, but still they lived near the master; and they loved their master more than the master loved himself. They would give their life to save the master's house quicker than the master would. The house Negro, if the master said, 'We got a good house here,' the house Negro would say, 'Yeah, we got a good house here." Whenever the master said 'we,' he said 'we.' That's how you can tell a house Negro," ("Message to the Grassroots").  The field Negros worked out in the yard, and did the hard physical labor, while the house Negros took care of the kids while the parents were away. Malcolm X explain that the field Negro was hard at work from morning until dusk making sure that the land is how the owner wants it. "The field Negro was beaten from morning to night. He lived in a shack, in a hut; He wore old, castoff clothes. He hated his master. I say he hated his master. He was intelligent. That house Negro loved his master. But that field Negro   remember, they were in the majority, and they hated the master," ("Message to the Grassroots). Malcolm tries to bring these two things together to make the audience understand that they are one instead of just a variety of different people who can do something about equality. In conclusion, Malcolm made valid points in addressing the argument to make it affective and influence the African American community.

In "Message to the Grassroots", Malcolm discusses the differentiation between the black and Negro revolution. To the people of the black community, a revolution is a word that is used loosely when describing a fight involving bloodshed and violence. The Negro revolution is the term that Malcolm used when describing Martin Luther King's peace movement. "The only revolution based on loving your enemy is the Negro revolution. The only revolution in which the goal is a desegregated lunch counter, a desegregated theater, a desegregated park, and a desegregated public toilet; you can sit down next to white folks on the toilet. That's no revolution. Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality," ("Message to the Grassroots"). Malcolm X thought that the "Negro Revolution" was ineffective in addressing the issue of equality; he preferred a more violent and aggressive approach. The black revolution is just the opposite of the Negro revolution; it was X's way of addressing the issue in a more "effective" way. 

In contradiction to "Message to the Grassroots", are many of Martin Luther King's speeches. Martin Luther King, born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, was a civil rights leader that believed in the act of peace. He believed that violence was cruel and unnecessary in addressing the problem of segregation because it caused non-important bloodshed and problems just to get worse. King organized peace movements like the March on Washington to avoid any bloodshed to be drawn. More than 200,000 white and black Americans joined together in the fight against segregation; songs were shared, along with prayers and King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech later influenced people to believe that it will get better. (March on Washington).  "Later in 1963, Dr. King was one of the driving forced behind the March for Jobs and Freedom, more commonly known as the 'March on Washington', which drew over a quarter-million people to the national mall. It was at this march that Dr. king delivered his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, which cemented his status as a social change leader and helped inspire that nation to act on civil rights. Dr. King was later named Time magazine's 'Man of the Year'" ("About Dr. King").  Also, King was a spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" in 1963 in order to bring peace.  

"In 1955, he was recruited to serve as a spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a campaign by the African-American population of Montgomery, Alabama to force integration of the city's bus lines. After 381 of nearly universal participation by citizens of the black community, many of whom had to walk miles to work each day as a result, the US.S Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in transportation was unconstitutional  In 1963, he led a coalition of numerous civil rights groups in a nonviolent campaign aimed at Birmingham, Alabama, which at the time was described as the 'most segregated city in America.' The subsequent brutality of the city's police, illustrated most vividly by television images of young blacks being assaulted by dogs and water hoses, led to a national outrage resulting in a push for unprecedented civil rights legislation. It was during this campaign that Dr. King drafted the 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail,' the manifesto of Dr. King's philosophy and tactics, which is today required-reading in universities worldwide." ("About Dr. King").

Due to King's actions and his idea of peace movements, it helped him and the black community succeed in gaining the Civil Rights act to gain equality for the African-American race. In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. contradicted Malcolm X's views in order to bring peace in a faster manner

Upon his death in 1965, Malcolm believed that a violent revolution would be the answer to all African American prayers. He came to the conclusion that they all shared similarities, ancestors and the common enemy, and he discusses the differences between the field and house Negro, the black and negro revolution, and the March on Washington and how it was informative and beneficial towards the audience. He was a man of war, so to speak, unlike his fellow civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. In Malcolm's speech, "Message to the Grassroots", the entire meaning behind it was to influence the black community to rise up and stand against segregation in a violent manner. However, in the end, Malcolm came up unsuccessful for his grand scheme in making the country non-segregated. 

