Why_Does_Martin_Luther_King_Have_a_Public_Holiday_but_Not_Malcolm_X_

They way Malcolm X is perceived by the American white community is the major determinant as to why he is not acknowledged on his own or shared public holiday for his contributions to the civil rights movement, while Martin Luther King does. This is due to the fact of religious beliefs, the personality of Malcolm and the way he wanted to achieve reform with the movement. This essay examines the potential reasons as to why one leader from the civil rights movement has been recognised by a public holiday while the other(s) has not. A lot has been written about both men. However, the general white population has a far greater knowledge and awareness of Martin Luther King rather than Malcolm X. King was perceived as an African American hero, in which he would save the black community from years of racism, suppression and torment. King presented himself as a balanced, middle of the road, peaceful leader. Malcolm X appeared to the white population as a violent black supremacist who was completely opposite to the conservative white middle class Americans and their beliefs. Various statements he made gave cause for why white Americans were concerned with his position. For example, "We're not Americans, we're Africans who happen to be in America. We were kidnapped and brought here against our will from Africa.” (Malcolm X). When comparing the two you gain a realisation that they both took divergent approaches, however they were both trying to achieve a similar outcome. The main religion of the United States during the period of X and King, and to this day still is, is Christianity. After joining the Nation of Islam, Malcolm became a religious family man and left the life of a drug addicted gangster to devote himself to his new found religion. “The black man needs to start his own program to rid of the drunkenness, drug addiction and prostitution.” (Malcolm X, Autobiography, 1965). After discovering the Nation of Islam, Malcolm turned against everything unethical. If the white American community was aware of this they would realize that not only Martin Luther was a religious man, but Malcolm was a devoted Muslim. However these beliefs conflicted with the dominant religion of Christianity. Over time towards his death his beliefs and personality continued to develop. “My thinking had been opened up wide in Mecca... I believe in anger. I believe it is a crime for anyone who is being brutalized to continue to accept that brutality without doing something to defend himself...Let me remind you that when the white man came into this country, he certainly wasn’t demonstrating non-violence." Despite Malcolm being a devoted Muslim, Martin Luther King was a liberal Protestant minister, who devoutly believed that true Christianity was tolerant, humane and unprejudiced. King's essential message was that your race, colour or nationality was irrelevant, what mattered was the sort of person you were inside. His prime passion was that black and white races should join together as one beneath an all-embracing Christian love for God and one another. Hence the reason why King would seem as a more acceptable leader to the modern day white man, who can possibility, be a Christian. Malcolm X's reason for why he did not favour integration of blacks with whites in the United States is that "You don't integrate with a sinking ship." Malcolm X argued that Americans were too racist and they could not offer hope to blacks. The solution, proposed by the Nation of Islam, was a separate nation away from the white community so that blacks could develop themselves apart from what they considered to be a corrupt white nation. Despite this Malcolm X taught self-defense and Black empowerment, not hate, which people seem to compare non-passivity with hate. In contrast with Malcolm X's black separatism, Martin Luther King, Jr. offered what he considered "the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest" to build an integrated community of both blacks and whites in America. Malcolm believed that "The common enemy is the white man." Malcolm’s hatred towards the white community was because of years of racism and suppression. Joining the Nation of Islam taught him to hate everything to do with the white man and taught him to see the white man as the devil. However after returning from Mecca, Malcolm was a changed man. “Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white, but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all together, irrespective of their colour." All of Malcolm’s opinions had changed completely after returning from Mecca. “"I am not a racist in any form whatsoever. I don't believe in any form of discrimination or segregation." King was taught to treat each and every single person with equality. He, as well as Malcolm, believed in brotherhood and unity between all people and nations. Even though Malcolm only reached this similar conclusion towards his death, he became an inspiration to all black people and in the end was a large contribution the civil rights movement. The above reasons become the basis for why the perceptions of both men by the white community. But you need to take a look at what Malcolm has accomplished and what he believed in and you reach the conclusion that he was in fact a true leader for the movement and that there should not be a day to remember Martin Luther King but in fact have a day of remembrance for those who had contributed to the civil rights movement.