SMC Major Political Ideas of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Comparative Essay PLEASE ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS. 1.Compare and contrast the major political i

SMC Major Political Ideas of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Comparative Essay PLEASE ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS.

1.Compare and contrast the major political ideas of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Focus on similarities and differences regarding their world views, core values, goals, strategies and tactics.

2. Discuss some of the issues confronted by the LGBT community in the United States. What are some of the ways that the LGBT movement has responded to these issues? How successful has the movement been?

Please discuss your thoughts and opinions on the following subjects. Please stay on topic, and do not use filler. Use the documents provided to help you through writing, and please be sure to use the ideas from the documents! This is extremely important. This teacher enjoys reading off of his ideas, whether you agree with him or not. So please use many ideas from the documents provided and no outside sources besides your prior knowledge. You can use some ideas from the links I provided if needed.

Thank you so much!

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Bi…

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/mal…

https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/ethics/… Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
Studying these two iconic African-Americans together gives us much to
compare and contrast. There is the danger though, of perpetuating the
mainstream narrative of King as the saint and Malcolm as the radical
While today Dr. King is respected as a great American, during his lifetime it
was a different story. While he was admired by many, he was also hated
by many. Today Malcolm X is still viewed as a radical, but with respect. At
the time of his death in 1964 he was not popular. The vast majority of
whites saw him as a dangerous black militant. The fact that he converted
to Islam made him more of an outsider. Nevertheless, while the two men
had their differences, they agreed on a lot. So let?s take a deeper look
Martin Luther King Jr. 1929-1968
Understanding Dr. King
MLK was a man of faith. His commitment to civil rights and non violence
were grounded in his Christian faith.
It is interesting that so many leaders of the civil rights movement were
ministers. The church was a key institution in southern black communities
and clergy were the natural leaders of those communities
MLK was a man of action. Although he was a very learned man, he was
not an ivory tower intellectual. He was an activist and an organizer, who
was jailed a number of times. His political thought must be seen in that
context
MLK was a man of peace. He many not have been an absolute pacifist,
but his commitment to non-violence was fundamental to his faith, his action
and his thought.
In 1967 he came out strongly against the Vietnam War. This meant
opposing President Lyndon Johnson who had done more for civil rights
than any other president.
In the last year of his life he became more concerned with poverty and
economic inequality. He was organizing a “Poor People?s March” on
Washington. In April 1968 he was in Memphis supporting a strike by
sanitation worker. It was there that he was assassinated
Letter From Birmingham Jail
1963
Historical Context Why did he write this letter?
He is writing to justify the tactics his movement was using in Birmingham
the tactics of non violent direction action
. Earlier the NAACP had fought a legal battle, filing desegregation cases
in federal courts.
By 1963 the battleground of the Civil Rights movement had moved from the
courts to the streets. The movement had embraced a strategy of protest
politics, of non-violent direction
Perhaps the starting point was the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955.
Rosa Parka was a black woman who was arrested for refusing to give up
her seat to a white man. The busses were segregated, whites in the front,
blacks in the back. in the middle of the bus was a “no man?s land” where
blacks could sit, unless the seat was needed by a white person.
The somewhat sanitized version of the story is that Ms Parks resisted
because she was tired after a long day at work. But she was also the
secretary of the local NAACP and had participated in in direct action
training at the Highlander Center. Also, her respectability made her an ideal
heroine.
Martin Luther King was a new minister in town and he was elected head
of the Montgomery Improvement Association. Their goal was to integrate
the city buses. They decided on a boycott. They understood that the
majority of bus riders were African Americans, if they refused to ride the
buses, the city would suffer economic losses. The boycott gained mass
support in the black community. After a long struggle, the city relented and
the buses were integrated.
Other non-violent direct action tactics employed by the movement included
demonstrations, picketing, sit ins and civil disobedience.
Civil disobedience was the most controversial of the tactics because it
involves breaking the law. The argument for civil disobedience goes like
this. We are not anarchists, we are not criminals we believe in the rule of
law. However, this particular law is is unjust. We have exhausted all legal
means of changing the law. We will now non violently disobey that law and
submit to punishment. We will be arrested and jailed. By submitting to
punishment, we are demonstrating our commitment to the rule of law.
Because King had employed these controversial tactics in Birmingham he
was criticized by local white clergymen. They questioned how he, as a
man of God, could incite illegal action. King had been arrested, and while
serving time in Birmingham he responded to his colleague. The purpose of
the letter is to justify the tactics of non violent direct action
But there is more than strategy and tactics here there is an underlying
philosophy
Later in that year King would deliver his “I Have A Dream” speech in
Washington D. C. That day he was introduced as the “moral leader of
America”
He was making his appeal on moral grounds. When you make a moral
appeal your are appealing to the common humanity that you share with
others, including your oppressors.
He argues that the ideals of the Civil Rights Movement are American ideals
and are shared by all Americans
There is an American Dream that should be shared by all Americans
They are not radical ideals, they are American ideals, they are JudeoChristian ideals. If he were writing today he would include Muslims.
Let?s Look at the religious aspects of his thought
He was accused of being an outside agitator. Why was he in Birmingham?
“…because injustice is here…I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom
beyond my particular hometown”
Just at the 8th Century BC prophets carried their message of “just saith the
Lord” far beyond their hometowns, and just as the apostle Paul, left his little
village and carried the Gospel of Jesus to every hamlet and city in the
Greco Roman world. I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom
beyond my home town
But you advocate breaking the law. King replies: As St. Augustine says “
An unjust law is no law at all
In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is
not rooted in eternal and natural law
All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul
and damages the personality
To use the words of the great Jewish Philosopher, Martin Buber,
segregation substitutes an I-it relationship for an I -Thou relationship
Paul Tillich said that “sin is separation. Isn?t segregation an existential
expression of Man?s tragic separation, an expression of his awful
estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?
King says …I urge men to disobey segregation ordinances because they
are morally wrong” “We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage
of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing
demands
Thus, the political thought of MLK is clearly rooted in religious convictions
Yet it is an ecumenical version. Draws from Protestant, Catholic Jewish
sources.
Also he makes sure that his arguments can also be made on secular
grounds. That is you do not have to be religious to agree with his
argument. He is appealing to a common humanity.
But back to politics
What are King?s core values?
Freedom, justice, equality and non violence
What is his goal? The goal is integration:removing the legal foundations of
segregation. The idea being that the values of freedom, equality and justice
cannot be achieved in a segregated society
We will see later how Malcolm X disagrees with the goal of integration
though he seems to share the values of freedom, justice and equality but
not that of non violence
For King if the goal is integration what is the strategy?
Strategy is a plan to achieve a goal
For King that strategy is Non violent direct action
two elements non violence and direct action
non violent direct action includes legal tactics but also civil disobedience
civil disobedience means that if all of the legal methods for changing an
unjust law have been exhausted, it is moral to engage in illegal action.
However the action must be non violent and you must be willing to accept
punishment. Thus, King and countless others went peacefully to jail for
their beliefs. By submitting to punishment you are showing that you believe
in the rule of law even though are disobeying a particular law. Also you are
hoping that your example will inspire others and the unjust law will be
changed. This was stated earlier but bears repeating
Kings approach to non violence is a moral approach. The ends do not
justify the means. We should not act like our oppressors. Of course he
also said that it is equally immoral to use peaceful means to preserves evil
institutions.
You can also make a strategic argument for non violence. That it is the
most effective.method.
Note that for all of its idealism the civil rights movement was very
pragmatic. The non violent tactics were significant in winning popular
support, including white support, for the movement.
Let us now turn to Malcolm X
Context In the early 1960?s the Black Muslims emerged as the radical
alternative to the Civil Rights Movement.
What was Malcolm?s greatest difference with the Civil Rights Movement?
He rejected King?s goal of integration. He was a separatist and a black
nationalist
He was a precursor of the Black Power Movement that would emerge a
few years later. The emphasis was on black people taking control of their
own communities, Building political and economic power. This was the
answer, not integration
We should control the economy of our own community. We have to get
together and remove the evils, the vices, the alcoholism, drug addiction and
other evils that are destroying our community. We ourselves have to lift the
level of our community , the standard of our community to a higher level
Malcolm disagree with the goal of integration and rejected Kings emphasis
on non-violence. Blacks must gain freedom “by any means necessary”
He also called for blacks to reject the dominant white culture. Blacks
should take pride in their own culture
Cultural Note Even his use of the term “black” was considered radical,
particularly by whites. In the the early 1960?s most African-Americans
identified as Negroes. By the 1960?s ?black” had replaced “Negro? as the
commonplace term. The shift to “African American” would come in the
1990?s
Eventually Malcolm would break with the Nation of Islam. After a pilgrimage
to Mecca he adopted a more somewhat more conciliatory attitude toward
white. While earlier he had spoken of “white devils”, he now believed that
blacks and whites could work together for freedom. However, blacks must
always enters these coalitions from a position of power. A key point of
Black Power was that blacks could not rely on well meaning white liberals.
Of course, this offended many white liberals who had been allies of and
even participated in the civil rights movement.
Sadly, in February 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City
You have read The Ballot or the Bullet what is his message?
Why does he reject the goal of integration and the strategy of non-violence
Basically his rejection of integration is based on the idea that blacks can
never, and should never integrate into a society that they have never been
a part of
I am one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism.
..victims of democracy….nothing but disguised hypocrisy…..So i am not
speaking to you as an American…I am speaking as a victim of the
American system..I don?t see an American dream, I see an American
nightmare
I am one who does not believe in deluding myself. I?m not going to sit at
your table and watch you eat with nothing on plate, and call myself a diner.
Sitting at the table doesn?t make you a diner unless you eat some of what is
on the plate. Being born here doesn?t make you and American
Obviously a very radical critique of American society.
Remember, this early in 1964. It wasn?t clear that the Civil Rights Act would
pass(as it did a few months later) or that the Voting Rights Act would be
passed the following year.
So it was not obvious that the legal foundations of segregation would be
dismantled. And even if they were, the more systemic social, economic,
cultural and political aspects of racism would remain-as they did.
For a black nationalist like Malcolm there is not point trying to integrate into
a system that is fundamentally unjust and racist to its core.
So the nationalist and the integrationist have different world view
To the integrationist, racism is a serious flaw in the system, a very serious
flaw, but it can be corrected, if we would only live up to our own ideals
To the radical, to the black nationalist, racism is not just a flaw in the
system it is integral to the system.
Note To be radical is to believe that the problems of society have their
origins in the very roots of society. Therefore fundamental change is
necessary. Incremental reforms will not bring real change.
Next week we will see how feminism has radical and liberal elements.
You could compare this with the current division within the Democratic
Party. Supporters of Biden say that Trump is a unique perversion of the
system and must be defeated. Supporters of Sanders say that Trump is a
symptom of an unjust system political system and a rigged economy.
What about Malcolm?s rejection of non violence?
Is he actually advocating violence?
For him it is mostly a matter of strategy and tactics. Remember your
reading is titled The Ballot or the Bullet here are some quotes that you will
recognize
There?s a new strategy coming in. it will be molotov cocktails this month,
hand grenades next month, and something else the next month. It will be
ballots or it will be bullets. It will be liberty or it will be death. The only
difference about this kind of death is it will be reciprocal
Any time hou know you?re within the law, within your legal rights, within
your moral rights..in accord with justice, then die for what you believe in.
But don?t die alone. Let your dying be reciprocal .
I don?t mean to go out and get violent, but at the same time you should
never be non-violent unless your run into some non-violence. I?m nonviolent with those who are non-violent with me. But when you drop that
violence on me, then you?ve made me insane, and I?m not responsible for
what I do.
So he is not advocating violence for its own sake.
But he is not ruling it out
It can be justified when it is effective and necessary
From Civil Rights to Human Rights
We need to expand the civil rights struggle to a higher level-to the level of
human rights
Civil rights are rights you have under the law of a particular country
In many respects the civil rights movement was saying “Come on America,
obey your own law(the Constitution)
Human Rights are rights you have as a human being
Malcolm says that instead of appealing to the U. S. government to enforce
civil rights, blacks should make it an international struggle to enforce
human rights
take it into the United Nations, where our African brothers can throw their
weight on our side, where our asian brothers can throw their weight on our
side, and where 800 million Chinamen are sitting there waiting to throw
their weight on our side
So is Malcolm the radical and Martin the liberal?
Is Malcolm the separatist and Martin the integrationist?
Is Malcolm the revolutionary and Martin the reformer?
Is Malcolm justifying violence and Martin arguing for non-violence?
Or is it more complicated then that?
How are they similar? How are they different?
What can they tell us about contemporary issues of racial inequality?
LGBT ISSUES
Terminology
In the 19th Century people who today would be referred to as gay,
bisexual, or transgender would be referred to as sex inverts by sexologists
in the early 20th Century the term homosexual came into popular use
usually lumping all LGBT people under the same umbrella
In the 1950?s the term homophile was used by those wanting to avoid the
negative connotation of the term homosexual
In the early 20th Century the term Gay was used in underground circles to
to all who those who today would identify as LGBT
The term gay would become widely used in the 1970?s
Over time, the term lesbian became more widely used to refer to women
attracted to other women
More recently the term transgender has become common to refer to
people who had previously been referred to as transsexual
Sometimes the term trans* is now used to include people who are
transgender, gender fluid, gender queer, gender questioning or transvestite
(cross dressers)
Incidentally the term cisgender refers to those comfortable with the gender
identity considered compatible with their biological sex
So this brings us to the current usage of LGBT as the most inclusive term
to refer to this diverse community
Although there are some cis gendered gay males who believe that their gay
rights movement has been hijacked by lesbians, feminists, and transgender
people
We should also note that the term queer-so long a slur- is now used
comfortably by young LGBT?s
hence LGBTQ
Even LGBTQIAAP which includes questioning, inter-sex , asexual, allies
and pansexual
More terminology
Sex Biology, male or female anatomy. In very rare instances, inter-sex
Gender Socially constructed norms and roles We are born male or
female but we are socialized to be masculine or feminine. There is still
some debate on this topic. Some scientists contend that certain aspects of
gender are rooted in biology.
Sexual Orientation Gay straight or bi
Gender Identity Who you think you are, the internal perception of one?s
gender
Cis-gender Gender identity is aligned with one?s biological sex at birth
Transgender Gender identity does not match the biological sex
that they were assigned at birth
Gender Expression The outward display of gender, clothes etc, usually
labeled as various degrees of masculinity or femininity. Do you present
masculine, feminine or androgynous.
History
In the America of the 1950s homosexuality was generally considered as
immoral, criminal and psychologically abnormal
Donald Cory The Homosexual in America argued that homosexuals
should demand their civil rights
Kinsey Report Estimated that 10% of Americans were homosexuals
Beginnings of a Movement
1952 Harry Hay puts forward the idea that that homosexuals are an
oppressed cultural minority
He founded the Mattachine Society where gays could meet and offer
support to one another to counter the negative mainstream stereotypes of
homosexuals as sexual perverts
and to work for changes in the laws that criminalized homosexual conduct
Also, in the early 1950?s Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon found Daughters of
Bilitis the first lesbian organization The organization originally focused
less on politics, and more on offering support to individual lesbians
Barbara Gittings would eventually lead DOB in a more militant direction
Battles with Post Office and Federal Government
1958 Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that One magazine could not be confiscated
by the Post Office simply because its major topic was homosexuality
1967 Court ruled that individuals have a right to privacy and do not have to
answer questions regarding their sexuality
This was part of a battle over whether the federal government could
refuse to hire homosexuals or fire them
Frank Kameny was key to much of this
The Movement Grows
Stonewall
On June 28, 1969 NY police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in
Greenwich Village. The legal reason was their lack of a liquor license but
for a long time there had been a pattern of police raids of gay bars.
Patrons could be arrested if they were caught in homosexual conduct or
“masquerading” as a member of the opposite sex
As a woman was being carried away she yelled “why don?t you guys do
something” and the riot broke out
Gay Liberation Front was formed in summer of 1969
GLF defined itself as revolutionary declaring that sexual liberation for all
cannot come about unless existing social institutions are abolished
GLF stated that new social relations must be formed based on
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