How Did Martin Luther King Changed the World Essay

Historians disagree about the reasons why the civil rights movement was a success. How far do you agree that the main reason why the civil rights movement was a success was the leadership of Martin Luther King?

The Civil Rights movement emerged in the early 1950s as a way of progressing the work of earlier activists who began to demand the equality of African Americans in the States. This was the first time a mass demonstration by a large minority of the population had begun to revolt against the current system. Due to the nature of the mass movement, historians have debated on who exactly had had the most crucial role of leader. The consensus of the public tends to relay the name of Martin Luther King Jr, which agrees with the opinion of the contemporary traditionalist historian. However, there are many arguments against the flaws of Martin Luther King. His failures in Selma became notable in contrast to his previous success, particularly his notoriety after the March on Washington and his involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott. Historians therefore bring forth the argument on whether King was as successful a leader as his name tends to signify.

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‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.’ Martin Luther King, Washington March, 28 August 1963

This source is an extract from Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech made in the March on Washington on August 28th, 1963. In this, he is expressing his belief in equality. He uses emotive language by talking about children and also cultural references by mentioning Alabama as the Montgomery bus boycott had occurred eight years previously. He is also using violent language when referring to the ‘vicious racists’. When doing this, he is distancing himself from the actual use of violence by associating it with the negative side. This message is still seen as one of the most influential speeches of all time. At the march, it was seen by 250,000 people and is still seen as a massive icon in terms of current civil rights issues, such as police brutality.

A Marxist historian very well might read this source as a rousing speech for equality and socialism as people would be judged, ‘by the content of their character’. This leads well into the links between Martin Luther King and democratic socialism/communism during the later part of his career. This supports the idea that Martin Luther King was a crucial figure in the civil rights movement as he was pushing for equality. A contemporary critic would have overlooked this speech due to the bombing that took place several weeks later, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in which 4 young black girls were killed. It also was one of dozens of speeches that took place that day, so nothing in particular made Martin Luther King’s necessarily memorable or special. However, the fact that of the speeches made that day, King’s is the most known, especially amongst the general public, shows his greater influence. This amplifies his notoriety due to the small few people who can recall other personalities other than King.

A diplomatic historian would also say that this big personality is the one pushing through the change in history as it could not have been done without an event such as the Washington March. The presidentialism that King displays encourages the audience to narrow in specifically with him rather than his message. As this source is incredibly well known, of course, it would hold a high historical value. It is the speech that made Martin Luther King as much of an icon as he is. However, if an audience were to only watch this speech, they may think all Martin Luther King did was good, rather than some of the failures of his career, such as Chicago and Selma.

This image is A. Philip Randolph leading the procession onto the Lincoln Memorial at the March on Washington. This shows that it was Randolph who was crucial in the march and that Martin Luther King only received his influence through another famous African American leader. In the photo, there are many people, both white and African American. This shows a massive amount of teamwork that was necessary to make this event a success. The prominence that is put on the March on Washington is rarely seen as a team effort due to the massive focus on the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, which would not have happened without this large effort being put in place. The March was initially created due to the New Deal programs and African American exclusion from the Second World War but several marches were made afterward, including this March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Randolph’s alliances with various black communities had proven useful in aiding this whereas King was known to have focused on his Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Philip Randolph was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters which was the first predominantly African-American labor union. This was crucial in allowing African Americans a voice, as was the NAACP.

With this being a photograph, A Philip Randolph is indisputably leading the procession for the March. His position made him able to choose Martin Luther King as the speaker of that occasion. He therefore commands a certain authority. Randolph was hoping to capitalize on King’s newfound success an order to raise publicity for the event, which was a successful move. The provenance was difficult to precisely date back due to the age of the photograph.

A revisionist historian would then be aware of the outsider help that made Martin Luther King as distinguished as he was, such as through the help of A. Philip Randolph. Martin Luther King was not as crucial as he was given the platform on which he made his most influential speech. Therefore, Martin Luther King was not the main reason that the civil rights progressed to the extent that it did. It was merely a focus point that the media focused on due to the length of time the march went on(15 hours). There were also 9 other main speakers so contemporary historians would not have particularly focused on King, other than that his speech was the last of the day.

If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our people right here in this country. Malcolm X, Message to the Grassroots, November 10, 1963

Malcolm X’s, ‘Message to the Grassroots’ was a rousing speech made in November 1963, a few months after King’s speech at Washington. Most of the speech itself is a response to King’s message of anti-violence and unity. Similar to Martin Luther King, X uses emotive language when talking about children to portray his message. Throughout the whole speech, X refers to himself and the audience as ‘us’. A Marxist historian would immediately see the communist links of equality in X’s message. This connection would be a way of showing equality between himself and other African Americans. He is showing that he believes in this equality already. The speech was spread quickly amongst black communities as a rallying call for more aggressive action. It is this speech that is often cited as the speech that inspired Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to form the Black Panthers. This has noteworthy importance in terms of inspiring another generation of civil rights activists and increasing the use of violent protests by sparking patriotic messages.

The Message to the Grassroots was the last major speech made by X before his separation from the Nation of Islam. It outlined his thoughts on violence and the use of direct action to get the equality and separation he so desired. Malcolm X connected to a much greater extent with the Northern ghettos, partially due to the previous influence of Marcus Garvey. This is very strongly contrasting to Martin Luther King as it shows that he was not the only influential African American who connected with the people however King was unsuccessful in the North after his failures and controversy in Chicago with laundering money from tenants to renovate their buildings, this was illegally done.

Malcolm X’s work with the Nation of Islam led him to be a huge religious figure, similar to Martin Luther King’s work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Historian Coleman wrote, ‘Malcolm and Martin's strength lay in their ability to use the traditional tool of religion to attract an audience’. They gained a substantial following due to the connotations they used in terms of religious rhetoric. This combination of the teachings of the the Baptist Church and Islam made more isolated people feel more connected through the teachings of faith. It is however their opposition in terms of solutions that caused a diversity in the leaders. Coretta Scott King said in 1988, ‘If the two had lived, I am sure that at some point they would have come closer together and would have been a very strong force in the total struggle for liberation and self-determination of Black people in our society.’. It is theorized that their unity may have acted as a catalyst for to progress of the civil rights movement.

This is the mugshot of Martin Luther King after one of the attempts to riot in Birmingham, Alabama. This shows the criminal nature of Martin Luther King. He was jailed a total of 29 times. He could then be seen as a bad leader for the civil rights movement due to his links with crime. He also could then be seen as a bad Christian as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It is a recorded mugshot so it can be assured that it does not hold a partiality.

A revisionist historian would note this criminal behavior and show that he was not a good leader due to acknowledging the stereotype of black crime. He would not have been seen in a good light by white citizens due to this criminal typecast. His arrests however could be argued gave him more publicity and allowed more people to be aware of his cause. He was martyred through this in a similar way to Nelson Mandela way during his incarnation. This may be seen by an intentionalist historian as King gaining an audience.

This would oppose the idea that he was the most significant as he portrayed a bad image of an African American in this instance. However, King would have been allowed to share his message through his arrest, in a similar way to what Mein Kampf did during Hitler’s incarceration.

These mugshots are in the national archives, meaning they have public access. Historians would then find these incredibly helpful in placing times and dates in perspective to the rest of Martin Luther King’s actions, however, it does not offer an immense amount of detail for historians to analyze. It is very good as a comparative piece, however.