I think he has a day because they owe him a day for what they did to him. I think you we all know who they are. How did his killer break out of jail: who helped him? How did he know where MLK was and where exactly to set up? How did a guy who just broke out of prison get all that artillery? Who tapped his phones again? It's a darn shame how he was gunned down like a dog on the balcony, but just ask your self these questions.
I would have guessed that you'd at least check this post for obvious grammatical errors before submitting.
I would be willing to wager there are quite a few white Christian liberals on this board who would pray for you to see the light. Here's one:
A compromised respond to the demand of liberalization of all suppressed people. Malcolm X was feared because the real power is from a gun barrel, and the American ruling class knew it. They were willing to surrender partial power to the minorities(I would say mostly to African Americans, as evidenced by the fact that when people talk about politics in America, it's about black and white, and Asians and Hispanics just don't have too much leverage)to dilute the anger of the less privileged. Granting Malcolm X superior status is to recognize the legitimation of overthrowing the prevailing social-economical system of US. And the ruling class will try all they can to prevent that from happening. Martin Luther King's non-violent theory is propagandized so much as an alternative to Malcolm X's violent revolution strategy that the ruling class can save their asses.
Malcolm X gave the black men that "soul" power to stand up for what was being done wrong. He pursued violence should be fought with violence. MLK believed violence didn't ever resolved anything. I guess people don't want to have violence being remembered.
Obviously not exactly the same but I think in terms of relevance MLK would be considered like Jesse Jackson. Also as you note MLK wasn't without his personal failings and with the advent of a 24 hour news cycle those failings would be brought out in the public eye and magnified. I think for how radical many of the causes he embraced at the end of his life his relevance on the national stage would be diminished. For that matter we don't know for certain where MLK would stand on issues such as affirmative action, gay marriage, abortion, Hip Hop, Clarence Thomas or a host of other issues that have come up since he died. This is pure speculation on my part but I have a feeling that if both Malcolm X and MLK had lived up to now that Malcolm X would be a greater Civil Rights leader. By the time of MLK's assasination his prestige had already peaked while Malcolm X's prestige at his death was just starting to rise. MLK's radicalism on issues regarding poverty and the Vietnam War was surprising to many and was already eating away at his standing at the time of his death. In contrast when Malcolm X died he was in the process of reinventing himself from the militant black separatist to embrace a more inclusive path. In my opinion this transformation from angry radical to a moderate would've given him more standing to address the anger that rose up in the late 60's and 70's. Also I think his vision of a plural nation is more to how the nation has evolved since Civil Rights than MLK's vision of a completely integrated one. Basically a nation that still emphasizes diversity even though there is legal equality.
I think this may have been more true in the past, less so today. In the past, it was a useful political tool to juxtapose MLK-style non-violent protest with Malcolm X's agit-prop approach. His contribution to the overall progress in the movement and in black social awareness have received a lot more recognition. However, I would not agree that his contributions merit historical equivalence with Dr. King.
are you criticizing X from today's perspective or the time period he actually lived in when it was pretty ****ty to be black in regards to civil rights?
It does not really matter whom the establishment chose to recognize as the symbol of the civil rights movement. What matters is the end result today, and the end result says that Malcolm X's message about Black empowerment and non-assimilation into 'White' society is what won out. In that respect, Malcolm's legacy has crushed MLK's and is evident everywhere you go today in the Black community. If they were both alive today, Malcolm would be the eminent leader of the Black community and MLK would have been mostly marginalized. Since their untimely deaths, the Black community has spoken in words and deeds, and the result is Malcolm X in a landslide. Whether the 'establishment' wants to recognize the obvious or not, Malcolm X is the civil rights leader who overwhelmingly resonated the most with the Black community. In retrospect, it looks like the establishment was right in fearing him the most.
disagree I understand the sentiment but blacks have assimulated into white society maybe unhappily but we have assimulated. we have ultimately moved into white neighborhoods, we are increasingly abandoning our historical neighborhoods, we eat at papadeaux's and carraba's, we shop for cloths at macy's. in his more radical days, malcolm x advanced black independence, black owned businesses etc.
Malcolm X advocated and preached hatred against a specific race. That's the textbook definition of racism. We should never have a holiday founded on a person who does such a thing.
Columbus was governor in the Caribbean and oversaw the complete annihilation of the native population. So... yeah.
