Malcolm or Martin...? Who would you choose?

[hylandrdet]

When you grow up in Detroit, you'll eventually get to know african americans. Throughout my association with blacks, I'd came to an understanding of their culture. However, there is one debate that is still at the heart and soul of their discussions. Who'd made the better impact on their civils right movement? Martin Luther King or Malcolm X?

Today is the 40 anniversary of the "assassination" of Malcom X; a black muslim, whose beliefs in self defense and nationality for blacks, made him famous among blacks and imfamous among whites.

Here's the question of the night... Now keep in mind that you are going by what you feel blacks are thinking of you right now.

If you were to go back in time, on a mission to unite blacks and whites in harmony; who would you save in order for this mission to succeed...?

Malcolm X or Martin Luther King?

Who would you choose?

 

[Gem]

An interesting question...I'm having trouble deciding however, whether to base my decision on what the men had accomplished up to the point of their assassinations, or where it appeared that their lives would have taken them based upon what direction they were heading at the time of their deaths. Afterall, Malcolm X's message to the black community and the US as a whole changed drastically after his conversion to Islam and his hajj.

I don't know...I'll have to give it a bit more thought and get back to you.

 

[Annie]

Martin! Then again, I think Malcolm was changing in his take on Islam, then he was assasinated, so hard to compare. They were both powerful leaders, whether you agreed with them or not.

 

[musicman]

I think Malcolm was changing in his take on Islam, then he was assasinated

That's my understanding, too. In fact, one school of thought has it that Malcolm's conversion to Christianity was a contributing factor in his death. It wouldn't surprise me; tyrants might chant "our strength is in our diversity" all day long, but that doesn't mean they actually TOLERATE any.

 

[hylandrdet]

Martin! Then again, I think Malcolm was changing in his take on Islam, then he was assasinated, so hard to compare. They were both powerful leaders, whether you agreed with them or not.

Actually, Malcolm X's change on Islam came when he made his pilgrimage to Mecca. There, he saw white, asian, and other people of different cultures praying to Allah. He'd quickly understood that the Nation of Islam was corrupt in excluding people of other races from participating in their cause. That, plus the animosity that developed betwen him and the ailing Elijah Muhammad, led to his "assassination".

 

[Annie]

Actually, Malcolm X's change on Islam came when he made his pilgrimage to Mecca. There, he saw white, asian, and other people of different cultures praying to Allah. He'd quickly understood that the Nation of Islam was corrupt in excluding people of other races from participating in their cause. That, plus the animosity that developed betwen him and the ailing Elijah Muhammad, led to his "assassination".

So you are saying that I should have specified Black Muslim?

 

[krisy]

I think Martin. Malcom X always sounded like a divider,not a uniter to me. Wasn't he the one that called white people "devils"? AS far as what black people today think. I'm sure it depends on whom you ask and their own attiude toward white people.