Malcolm X Research Paper

Violent protesting was not a solution to obtaining civil rights for African Americans; it was far less efficient than peaceful ones enacted due to disorganization, radical ideology, and the additional violence that ensued. A journal pertaining to the achievements of James Farmer utilizes his own words to corroborate on the how the nonviolent protests were more powerful, “If I kicked the bucket tomorrow, I would like it to be known that I founded the Congress of Racial Equality in 1942, organized the freedom rides in 1961, and attempted to bring Gandhian techniques of nonviolence to the struggle for racial equality in this country” (The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education). He believed, from a Christian perspective, that justice would eventually …show more content…
King’s spiritual values dictated the opposite – that you can only meet violence with nonviolence. King had realized, along with Gandhi, the spiritual truth expressed in many of the world’s religions that hate can only ever really be overcome and eliminated by the practice of love, and by no other means. Both Movements, at their core, wanted to advance the well-being of black people and leave behind the repressive, growth denying forces of an unfair society. King clearly recognized this, his only criticism was on the methodological approach for dealing with this inequality and injustice. Malcolm X, in one of his speeches, talks about the Gandhian ideals that King and Farmer arduously adopted, ““Prior to reading Gandhi,” he said, “I had about concluded that the ethics of Jesus were only effective in individual relationships. The ‘turn the other cheek’ philosophy and the ‘love your enemies’ philosophy were only valid, I felt, when individuals were in conflict with other individuals; when racial groups and nations were in conflict a more realistic approach seemed …show more content…
If we have to gather ourselves and build a monument that commemorates the freedom that we believe will eventually have less value to us, so be it." (Malcolm X). The steps that he was willing to take were quite drastic; he advocated for a revolutionary change that would have reshaped the political structure of the United States. The changes he wanted to enact were what was leading to the conflict between the white and black communities. This was another reason on why the violent protesting during the Civil Rights Movements was less efficient as Farmer pointed out, “Where there is power, or the appearance of power, there are always those who would go to any lengths to gain it. Only those with the gift and taste for it keep it. I always had the gift, but never the taste“ (Farmer, 271). Farmer described individuals like Malcolm X as people searching for to lead instead of to follow. Farmer’s own achievements with the Freedom Riders and with the CORE corroborate why nonviolence was so applicable to so many protests; this was due to the fact that it was easier for many individuals to unify behind a single

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