Black Separatism
Malcolm was born in Omaha, Nebraska later on in life he strived to become a black nationalist leader who served as a spokesman for the Nation of Islam during the 50’s and 60’s. Malcolm was the 4th of eight children. Due to his fathers avid support as a civil rights nationalist Malcolm faced hardships early in life. After receiving frequent harassment from a multitude of white supremacist groups his family moved to East Lansing, Michigan. Here his family received even more hate than before. Shortly after they moved his house was burned to the ground group while emergency responders refused to help. Two years later Malcolm's father was supposedly murdered by white supremacists. The police ruled the case a suicide and voided the life insurance policy his father had in place. Malcolm mother whom never fully recovered from the shock was put in a mental institution. Even after these experiences Malcolm excelled in school. Malcolm was the only black student at an all white school. During class one of his teachers ask him what he wanted to grow up to be. He told her he wanted to be a lawyer she responded with "One of life's first needs is for us to be realistic ... you need to think of something you can be ... why don't you plan on carpentry?”. Malcolm later quit school with realization that there was no point in
pursuing education. Later in life Malcolm moved to Michigan and worked with Elijah Muhammed who was the leader of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm was passionate and preached blacks to cast off the shackles of racism by any means possible.
There is no doubt Malcolm X was an influential leader in the fight to gain equality for African Americans. However his ideals and beliefs were very different than Martin Luther King. Both leaders were religious and used this to back there teachings, however MLK used his teachings to support nonviolent protests while Malcolm believed “There is no such thing as a nonviolent revolution”. Both leaders gained a large number of critics and followers because of this, but this reason may be why we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. day instead of Malcolm X day. Aside from this the main similarity they share is their belief of equal rights for all. Both men lead protest and gave speeches in the efforts to end segregation,
The effects of the movement branch into every part of society; education, public services, job opportunities ect. There are a multitude of laws in place to protect African Americans and other minorities. The laws that been enacted in years past protect minorities from race discrimination. These laws are in place to help minorities receive the best opportunities for a fair education. Because of this schools and public places are no longer separated by race.