Although the civil rights movements in the 1950s and 1960s were based on racial and political issues, the role that religion, being Christianity and Islam, played seems to be apparent. There are two main figures that need to be discussed when dealing with civil rights, and they are Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Despite the two characters had different perspectives on how to approach the relevant occurrences and followed diverse religions, the final subject seems to have had a strong impact on the decisions they took and on their course of action.
The first figure to consider is Martin Luther King Jr. who was an African American clergyman, activist, and conspicuous leader who played a great role in the progression of civil rights in …show more content…
Although having become very religious, Malcolm claimed to not mix religion with his economics and politics, and stated that religion should be kept in the Mosque (X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” 1965, 38) but, nevertheless, religion is one of the reasons why he started being an activist trying to protect his race, and the idea of being nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent (and vice versa) came from the religious ideology he followed (X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” 1965, 34). Nevertheless, Malcolm admitted that the Muslim world really altered his way of thinking and stopped him from making harsh generalizations on white men. This change is due to what he claims to have been a spiritual rebirth after vising Mecca, where he contemplated on the idea that white Americans could actually be cured from this “illness” known as racism (X, “Letters from Abroad,” 1965, 58) and started believing more in general freedom, justice and equality, especially for African Americans. He stated that America needed to start comprehending Islam, because it is the religion that abolishes racism and race problems from its society (X, “Letters from Abroad,” 1965, 59) as he was meeting people who explained to him how they had removed the label “white” from their minds and instead learned to practice brotherhood towards others irrespective of what their color
The first figure to consider is Martin Luther King Jr. who was an African American clergyman, activist, and conspicuous leader who played a great role in the progression of civil rights in …show more content…
Although having become very religious, Malcolm claimed to not mix religion with his economics and politics, and stated that religion should be kept in the Mosque (X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” 1965, 38) but, nevertheless, religion is one of the reasons why he started being an activist trying to protect his race, and the idea of being nonviolent only with those who are nonviolent (and vice versa) came from the religious ideology he followed (X, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” 1965, 34). Nevertheless, Malcolm admitted that the Muslim world really altered his way of thinking and stopped him from making harsh generalizations on white men. This change is due to what he claims to have been a spiritual rebirth after vising Mecca, where he contemplated on the idea that white Americans could actually be cured from this “illness” known as racism (X, “Letters from Abroad,” 1965, 58) and started believing more in general freedom, justice and equality, especially for African Americans. He stated that America needed to start comprehending Islam, because it is the religion that abolishes racism and race problems from its society (X, “Letters from Abroad,” 1965, 59) as he was meeting people who explained to him how they had removed the label “white” from their minds and instead learned to practice brotherhood towards others irrespective of what their color