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took a more militant stance. King believed that Blacks should fight for their civil rights, but they should not do so violently, but instead to offer the position of "peaceful protest" or "passive non-resistance". He believed that Blacks in their quest for civil justice should be willing to suffer beatings, even imprisonment for their cause, that they shouldn't fight back and defend themselves.

Malcolm did not agree. Being a Black Muslim, he felt it was weak and cowardly to not defend oneself. In fact the Black Muslims were taught to believe that White persons were "blue-eyed,blond-haired devils" who deserved to be destroyed for the social injustices they have often inflicted on Blacks. He did not neccessarily encourage Muslims or Blacks sentimental to the Cause to go out looking for White people to attack, but he felt that if White persons attacked them or attempted to harm them that they should use "any means neccessary" to defend themselves if need be.

And this is where the two men conflicted. Martin believed that though Malcolm was sincere, he felt he was badly misguided and mistaken in promoting hatred and violence as as solution is dealing with the social injustices that African Americans faced.

Malcolm had a divurgent view. He contended that Christianity-which Martin professed to be part of-was a religion that made persons weak before their enemies, since a basic belief of Christanity was to 'turn the other cheek', or not to retaliate, he reasoned. Unlike King, he did not believe in the struggle for civil rights; in fact he would often ridicule supporters for 'All the protest-ins, the sit-ins, the beg-ins and the cry-ins" in attempting to be loved and accepted by the larger White world. He believed that instead of Blacks vying for social acceptance by Whites, they should try to improve conditions within their own communities. He stated in a discourse he gave in Harlem in 1963 "In order to have Black and White harmony, we've got to have some Black harmony."

Though they had controversial.imflammatory views for the time, the two men, when they met in person were gracious to one another, even posing in a picture together, smiling and shaking hands.

But by 1964, Malcolm's views were changing. After discovering that Elijah Muhammad, the man whom he viewed as a spiritual mentor was involved in immoral affairs with several Muslim teenage girls, he left the Nation of Islam and began to examine mainstream Islam in which following a Mecca in The Middle East, he returned a changed man. Meanwhile, Martin later that year was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in promoting peace and brotherhood.

Malcolm began to feel perhaps his former position in promoting hatred toward Whites was mistaken, since during his Mecca he had seen both Black and White Muslims worshipping together. He began to take something of a civil rights-like stance in promoting brotherhood with anyone who wanted to promote the cause.

Ironically and tragically enough, both men, even though they had conflicting views, died violently at the hands of assassins, Malcolm X in 1965 and Martin Luther King three years later. Also ironic is that both men were the same ages at their deaths: 39 years old. But as controversial and conflcting as their positions were, both men have indeed left a legacy that has never been forgotten.

Learn more about this author, James Harvey.
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