Since attaining independence in 1776, the US remains to be one of the most dynamic nations in the world. From the time of slavery, the civil war, the World Wars, and the cold war, there has been a pronounced socio-political and economic stratification of the US demography. Also, with a population of more than 300 million people, the US is one of the countries with the most diverse ethnic and religious spectrum. However, the significant steps made in the social integration evidenced today did not come easy. It was a journey of vibrant activist activities together with literal blood and sweat. Some of the most notable activists in the US history lived in the mid-20 th century. Among them were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X who were instrumental since their ideologies and efforts contributed significantly towards social integration in the US.
Malcolm X was a vocal African American activist. In the interview with Pierre Berton, Malcolm highlights several issues that range from the liberation of Blacks to the Islam religion. As an active activist, Malcolm was at the forefront of the liberation of the oppressed (Malcolm, 2013). Malcolm suggests that every American is entitled to protection from the federal government. However, he is also keen to note that the government is reluctant to protect the African American community. Consequently, Malcolm submits that ‘black Americans ought to band together and do ‘whatever is necessary’ to attain the type of protection they need (Malcolm & Pierre, 2010). The ‘protection’ in this context is from oppression at a racial and property-ownership level. Therefore, Malcolm rudimentarily proposes that the black community should respond to white oppression by doing whatever is necessary to achieve their freedom.
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There are two main things that Malcolm believes that the black community should not do regarding white oppression. First, he proposes that they should not embrace demographic segregation or the so-called ‘black states.’ Second, he is keen to note that blacks should not depict any form of indiscriminate aggression or violence against whites when they are fighting white oppression. Malcolm’s arguments primarily take two dimensions; the religious aspect and the perspective of an oppressed black man in America (Marable, 2011). He makes arguments based on the religious teachings of Islam alongside the incorporation of the white oppression of blacks. In Malcolm’s arguments, I would support the element of opposing segregation and critique the notion of using ‘whatever is necessary’ since it has insinuations of violence.
Dr. Martin Luther King was also a renowned activist of the mid-19 th century, a Christian who often used religious teachings to foster social integration. In the ‘ Loving Your Enemies ’ sermon, he uses biblical teachings of love to project his ideologies to the audience. Contextually, Martin’s audience is the black community, and the enemy is the white community. The present condition of his audience is the adverse oppression from the enemy. Martin outlines three ways that the audience can apply+ love to the enemy. The first one is the element of realizing that no one is perfect, which means that the fault people see in others could be reciprocated (King, 2010). The second application is discovering the good thing about one’s enemy. Lastly, when one has an opportunity to defeat their enemy, they should not cease the opportunity. Primarily, Dr. King’s ideology is that his audience embraces love as a social integration tool.
Martin makes his argument mainly through the utilization of the gospel. Indeed, he is systematic and elaborate, and throughout his discussions, he refers to biblical teachings to communicate to his audience. One outstanding aspect of his argument is that it uses an open approach where the members of the audience are offered options and are informed on the possible outcomes of the various alternatives they may consider. By using this approach, his argument fosters liberalism in ideology and mode of thought. I would support the aspect of embracing love instead of hatred as this is an important aspect, the foundation of a socially-integrated nation (King, 2010). On the contrary, I would critique the element of foregoing an opportunity that one could use to defeat their enemy on the basis of love. First, the situation of the audience is that the whites are oppressing them. Therefore, it would be in the interest of the audience to liberate themselves from white oppression. This liberation can contextually be viewed as ‘defeating the enemy,’ and for this reason, any opportunity of winning should be exploited (King, 2014).
Comparatively, Malcolm would critique King’s sermon by stipulating its low efficiency since it is not easy to get people to adamantly love each other, especially in ethnically divided demography. In fact, it even gets worse when the people who are being told to embrace love are the ones who are being oppressed. On the other hand, King would criticize Malcolm’s approach by pointing out its overall inclination to violence and aggressive tendencies. Although Malcolm’s argument predisposes the black community to violence and physical injury, it has a higher chance of achieving results hence the more viable argument. From the time of slavery, blacks have had to fight and shed blood to liberate themselves from white oppression. Therefore, by merely embracing love, it would be difficult to make significant steps towards the elimination of discrimination or oppression
Despite the differences in their approaches and ideologies, both King and Malcolm were notable figures in the history of American activists as they made significant contributions towards building an integrated America. Their quest for the liberation of blacks from white oppression shows the ethnic stratification of the American demography. It also reveals the hardships that Americans have undergone to build a nation that is founded on the rights and freedoms of every citizen. In a modern context, many forms of oppression manifest themselves. Particularly in the US, ethnic divisions are still a social vice that people fight until today. This calls for the active contribution and participation of every citizen to combat all forms of diversity-based discrimination.
References
King, M. L. Jr. (2010). Strength to Love . Fortress.
King, M. L. Jr. (2012). A Gift of Love : Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings. Beacon Press.
King, M. L. Jr. (2014). A Knock at Midnight : Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Grand Central Publishing.
Malcolm, X & Pierre, B. (2010). Brother Malcolm with Pierre Berton on front page challenge (19 January 1965) . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOQzvrgYgCE
Malcolm, X. (2013). Pierre Berton interviews Malcolm X (January 19, 1965) . Retrieved from http://malcolmxfiles.blogspot.com/2013/07/pierre-berton-interviews-malcolm-x.html
Marable, M. (2011). Malcolm X : A Life of Reinvention. Penguin Publishing Group.
