Arts and Humanities Commons^™

America Shared, Or Separate? How Martin Luther King And Malcolm X Illuminate Conceptions Of Race Today – And Where We Go From Here, Sarah A. Wall

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

In an effort to unearth the roots of disparate conceptions of race in 21^st-century America, this paper analyzes two oppositional paradigms in the Civil Rights Movement – Integrationism and Black Nationalism. The Integrationist movement, led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., worked towards a shared America, a multiracial nation in which full citizenship and dignity was bestowed on every individual regardless of skin color. Integrationism was recognized even by its opponents as the Christian answer to segregation and inequality. Its commitment to nonviolence won hearts and minds throughout the latter half of the 20^th century, becoming the …