Martin Luther King Upstaged by Malcolm X in Black History

When the average person hears about black history month it seems the thing that comes to mind is coming to the new world, slavery, Freedom, Jim Crow, civil rights, and that is the end. There is much more to black history than slavery and begging for equal rights (figuratively used). There are also many unique personalities involved. Two well known civil rights leaders were Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

If you are not aware of Martin Luther King jr. then you have not paid attention in school since first grade probably. Dr. King was a civil rights leader who wanted equality for the black man. What makes him different than people today like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton is that he did not want blacks to have special privileges, affirmative action, hand outs, and all the things going on today. He just wanted everyone to be judged by "the content of their hearts and not the color of their skin". This is one reason I defiantly consider him a great man and well deserved of the respect he is given. In all fairness to Martin Luther King jr. having his birthday as a holiday I do agree in a sense. He did great things, but there are many great men through history who do not have their birthdays as national holidays like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. I would never say the holiday should not be in place, but since Dr. King did want people treated equally without regard to race I am making a very fair point. I also like that Dr. King was a southerner who lived through the establishment he was fighting against. He was not a northern agitator coming down south causing trouble. He missed a key thing in many speeches I have read though that Malcolm X really keyed on.

Now Malcolm X was far from a model citizen. He was basically a thug and hoodlum who converted to Islam while in prison. In all fairness my understanding if a large amount of American blacks who convert to Islam do so because of being in prison or the person who helps convert them was in prison. If you did deep enough you can find a prison connection in several cases. There are exceptions like Mohammed Ali. He did not go to prison over dodging the Vietnam draft, but in all fairness probably should have. Many people did of both races.

After converting to Islam Malcolm X became a much more educated man. He also gave up the drugs, drinking, and all the bad things he did before he went to jail. Initially he was about as, if not more, racist than many of the Klansman. He actually thought blacks and whites should be separate totally. The Nation of Islam still carries this basic belief. There are many white people who still agree with this. That has not happened and probably will not happen. Alex Haley (the writer of Roots) once interviewed Malcolm X and George Rockwell to give a white and black separatist opinion on the racial problems in the country and how to handle them. Since Rockwell was the leader of the American Nazi Party and Malcolm X was a black separatist previously with the Nation of Islam. Haley, who was black, of course was more on Malcolm X's side. He felt that Malcolm X was taking an extreme solution to a very real problem, but Rockwell was just plain fanatic and bigoted.

In reading a bit about Malcolm X for a project I came to a realization about him. He was bigoted and wanted blacks separate from white people. There are many white people who agreed with him and would have probably helped him in that quest to separate the races. He held that belief for a time even after he left the Nation of Islam over various differences of opinions with the group. His life turned around once again after he completed one of the rules that Muslims are expected to abide buy. This was among the five pillars of Islam.

According to the five pillars of Islam all Muslims are expected to go to Mecca, which is located in Saudi Arabia, once in their lifetime. I think there are exceptions if you are not able to afford to, but I am not 100% positive on that. Since there are Muslims of various races he met several white people there. There are not anywhere near as many white Muslims as other races, but there are some especially in former soviet republics. He interacted with the various races that were there.

In letters to his wife that were later published Malcolm X revealed that he basically drank from the same ups and ate off the same plates as white people with blue eyes and blonde hair. This led him to a personal breakthrough which is the subject of my article and why he makes my list as one of the greatest civil rights leaders who could unite the American people. He would believe that if white and black people could all be equal before God and love the same God then maybe they could love each other through God. Dr. King felt the same thing, but did not approach it in the same way.

What this does is basically focuses on how people are more alike than how we are different. You can have a white man and black man in the 50s who don't like each other based on race. What X was saying is that if they are both Muslims, or in American more likely christens, is that if they can live God with all their heart they can love each other as brothers in Christ. This is my take on it from a Christian perspective. That could unite us all. Patriotism and love of American could also unite us all. Race can divide us all. Not that there is anything wrong with being proud of your race and heritage or wanting your heritage to continue by not dating people outside of your race if that is your choosing. I know white and black people who are not racist but do prefer to not interracially date because of wanting their heritage to continue. This is a too each his own thing, but people do not need to hate based on race. All people made contributions to America. This includes the Natives, the white man, the black man and various other LEGAL immigrant groups.

I often thing about what will happen on the final day of judgment. Many black and white separatists use religion as a basis for their belief. Now being a separatist is not in and of itself horrible, but some of the violence that is done by these groups is. I think on judgment day God will say that different races, religions, and things like that were a test for mankind to see what we would do. I believe that he will say that the vast majority of humanity failed miserably. I know there are things I do that can border on racism, but I would never consider myself someone who would deny someone an opportunity because of their race or any other issue. I have hired people of various demographics as long as they can do the job. This is just a though of mine as I was pondering this assignment. The main thing is to remember we are all brothers in Christ.

Thank you for reading and God Bless.

Sources.

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

http://www.africawithin.com/malcolmx/malcolm_bio.htm