Civil Rights Essay

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

the whites, not overthrow them.

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,

but by peacefully protesting.

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

are still prevalent today and are still based on nonviolence.