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Malcolm X's Philosophy Of The Civil Rights Movement

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Malcolm X’s philosophy of the Civil Rights Movement was very different than what one might think when thinking about the civil rights movement. Malcolm did not agree with Martin Luther King Jr. on how African-Americans were to obtain civil rights nor on how they should react to violence by the whites, more specifically the non-violent reaction. Malcolm X believed that blacks should defend themselves against whites and that through Islam African-Americans would find the answers they were looking for and that they would get civil rights if they joined the nation of Islam. Malcolm X was a very prominent minister of Islam and followed the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. He preached to many African-Americans about Islam and convinced many to …show more content…

Until it was towards the end of his life, after his trip to Mecca, he was very close minded about any other view of blacks, civil rights, and any other religion, that it put distance between him and the common black man that wanted civil rights. Before his trip to Mecca, he believed that all whites were the devil and that even the ones who were trying to help the blacks were frauds and just doing it for themselves (Malcolm X383). However, after he had his trip to Mecca, he realized that there were sincere whites who actually wanted to help (Malcolm X 383). He also believed that whites should not be allowed to join black organizations (Malcolm X 384). The reason for was because he thought that whites being in a black organization would slow down the blacks’ progress and purposes (Malcolm X 384). He thought that whites should have their own group or organization that supported black but that they should stay out of black organizations (Malcolm X 384). Malcolm X was more of a challenge to civil rights movements than any help. He was against Martin Luther King Jr. who was the leader of the civil rights movement, he was against non-violence, he was against integration, and all he ever really cared about was that blacks convert to Islam. He divided blacks against themselves in the sense that there were two different ideas of what to do when all blacks

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