The 1950s and 1960s were eras of major discord between black and white races in the United States. The ever-present and unsettling realm of discrimination and disorder began in the Southern states. Civil rights issues became the norm during this period. Two of the more prominent leaders of the civil rights struggle were Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Although these leaders had the same results in mind, their means, philosophies, and principles differed. Their main differences fixated on their willingness to employ or not to employ violence to achieve their end goals.
             There were stark contrasting differences in the methods used by the two civil rights leaders. The early background of Malcolm X was a large factor responsible for the distinct different responses to racism. His house was burned by the Ku Klux Klan, which resulted in the murder of his father. From then on, he was driven by hatred and a desire for revenge. Malcolm X was critical of the methodical, slow approach that Martin Luther King was taken to end segregation. Malcolm X used a more confrontational "power approach" of direct action rather than a nonviolent approach. Malcolm X said, "Fight whoever gets in our way, to bring about the complete independence of people of African descent here in the Western Hemisphere, and first here in the United States." He believed that only through violence would conditions change. Malcolm X did not condone the unwarranted use of violence as a tool of resolution, but he did not speak out against its use. Malcolm X's strategy of selective nonviolence shows the passions that he felt to bring about an answer to the racism blacks were facing. He did not go out and seek violence, but under some circumstances, he felt blacks would be justified in retaliation. He persuaded his followers to press the issue and take the rights that blacks deserved.
             Martin Luther King Jr. had a more positive attitude than Malcolm X. He believed throu...