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‘To what extent was Martin Luther King the most significant individual in the development of
black civil rights in the USA between 1865-1968’
The significance of Martin Luther King in progressing black civil rights is relative and has changed in
the years following his death
...
Historian August Meier
emphasises King’s revolutionary strategies in publicising the issue of civil rights
...
King is remembered as a
great civil rights leader inspiring others to fight for freedom and racial equality
...
This includes key Black activists like Washington, Randolph and Malcolm X
...
In
addition, this overlooks the contribution of presidents alongside government to enforce long-term,
legal changes
...

On the significance of individuals during the Civil Rights Struggle, Historians Meier and Dyson offer
opposing perspectives
...
He emphasises King’s revolutionary
strategy of utilising the ‘publicity of mass arrests’ to encourage ‘national and international
pressures’1 (Appendix 2A) manoeuvre the success of black civil rights
...
His viewpoint is useful as
since the early 1960’s, Meier was a major force in his examination of African-American history
...
Meier actively
participated and studied the in the civil rights movement alongside King and Malcolm X
...

He holds King in great regard even as a white American showing the scope of support and impact
King had made
...
He judges King’s activism as being
glamorized by the press for the content of his character rather than his actions
...
He’s a black author, activist and
sociology professor at Georgetown University and is regarded as one of the most influential AfricanAmericans
...
Especially having faced the force of segregation and discrimination in his own
education
...
Presently, Dyson’s reluctant to accept that African-Americans have been freed
of oppression, questioning the scale of change King achieved
...
King and
Malcolm X identified with one another in private and work towards a unified cause of equality
...
unzcloud
...
nytimes
...
html

3

Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, Michael Dyson, pg
...

King’s contribution began in the later years of civil rights, thus cannot account for the significance of
earlier civil rights leaders, without whom King’s impact wouldn’t have been as significant
...
4 White support was a major component of improving civil rights, but Washington’s
efforts stagnated after the era of Radical Reconstruction in 1877
...

Washington
...
He was instrumental during the lowest point of the civil
rights struggle following the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865, abolishing slavery
...
Washington founded the National
Negro Business League in 1900, boosting African-American entrepreneurship in business
...
This removed the poverty trap that had hindered the development of civil rights
...
The value of this black-led newspaper is significant as it highlights the hope that Washington
projected to the blacks community
...
‘The Appeal’ also highlights the respectable status Washington earned from
White Presidents through his hard work
...
It is evident that
the only objection that could be brought against association with such a man as that is colour alone,
and President Roosevelt will not recognise that prejudice
...

Importantly, this source recognises that the outbursts from his association with President Roosevelt
can only reason to be race alone
...
Despite this,
support from white presidents was important to the passing of civil rights legislations in the 20th
century so Washington’s significant in focalising presidential support
...
’6 It wasn’t only poverty that stagnated the progression of civil rights but
also the adversity from the white moderate that needed to be combatted
...
However, this
backlash must be considered in the context Washington operated in after Supreme Court
constitutionalised the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine in ‘Plessy v Ferguson’ (1896)
...
, quoted in Along the Color Line: explorations in the black experience (Illinois 2002), p178

The Appeal
...
;), 26 Oct
...
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
...
of Congress
...
[volume] (Saint Paul, Minn
...
1901
...

Lib
...


(1954)
...
Despite his short-term contribution to the development of black civil rights, his popularity
amongst “both colours” had a long-term impact in paving the way for King
...
This
points to the fact that King’s more remembered for his efforts in advancing African Americans
socially and politically via his non-violent agenda with far-reaching effects
...

Likewise, King’s ‘dream’ of equality wouldn’t’ve been possible if it weren’t for support from other
civil rights activists such as Philip Randolph
...
Randolph was a key figure in combining ideals
of previous leaders
...
Although King’s praised for his
involvement in the March of Washington, 1963 yet he cannot credited for the idea
...
This ‘highly effective tactic of the march on
Washington which king dominated but Randolph organised’7 applied the necessary pressure
...

Randolph also played a major role in teaching King how to organise non-violent protests and political
tactics, catalysing the rapid development of the Civil Rights movement
...

Including marches, demonstrations and working with white sympathisers; this was key to the change
of momentum of civil rights
...
’8 Perhaps this points towards King’s reliance on other black activists in polishing
his tactical skills
...
Roosevelt’s significance is appreciated in terms of being the most important civil
rights leader to emerge from the labour movement
...

King’s activism in the later years of black civil rights is considered ground-breaking as captured by
white journalist, Geoffrey Gould in the Boston newspaper
...
Gould notes King’s stress on the slow pace of change of the civil rights struggle,
sparked from Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863
...
(Appendix 1B)
Contextually, this source is valuable in projecting the emotional impact King’s rhetoric induced at a
when civil rights campaigns were at their peak, showing the change of attitude amongst whites
...
His emphasis on King as a “magician” shows the extent to which King had an emotional
impact
...
“Now”! Said the man in front
of me
...
co
...
Philip Randolph,” 24 January 1960, in Papers 5:350
...
’ Significantly, the source indicated the scale of change that King
envisioned, hoping to equalise different areas of America
...

Gould comments on the social solidarity this speech brought about with repetitive statements like
‘like the tolling of a bell’
...
’9
However, a clear limitation is the exaggeration of King’s effect as not everyone was swayed by his
charisma especially those who were pro-Malcolm X and his vision of separatism
...

Gould lived in an area that was unaware of the struggle of Black African Americans as he suggests “I
don’t even know any Negroes
...
Perhaps that is why the tears came to
my eyes
...

He recognised the need to be more inclusive and avoid neglecting African-Americans’ difficult
position
...
This article was published during a key turning point as the struggle
of civil rights was in full force with variety of campaigns, marches and sit-ins
...
As the source indicates, King Significance lies in his
ability to inspire and unite both races to share a common cause through his famous speech
...

Although previous civil rights leaders have neglected King as the ‘product of publicity’, the ‘success
of civil rights movement’ wouldn’t haven’t been achieved if not for the media attention
...

King’s is best remembered by the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955
...
King was one of the leaders of the boycott and as the MIA
organization’s president he organized carpools and meetings to encourage protestors to uphold the
boycott until buses integrated
...
Since the 1870s, white extremism was symbolised by the Ku Klux Klan which silenced the
black community
...
The
boycott’s size attracted media coverage of the ‘mass arrests and incidents of violence’ (Appendix 2A)
including bombing of King’s house and imprisonment for two weeks
...

Meier cites the marches of ‘Birmingham and Selma’ as significant events in examining King’s role in
the development of black civil rights
...
black-history-facts
...
html
10

federal law on integration of public facilities
...
Despite the Commissioner Bull’s opposition, King
endured it, hoping to inspire others to join the cause
...
Even Kennedy’s administration admitted
to the march being crucial in persuading them to push the 1964 Civil Rights bill
...
In effect, it stimulated nearly ‘800
racial demonstrations’13 throughout the U
...

Likewise, the Selma to Montgomery demonstration was prompted by the lack of black suffrage
...
Half of Selma’s population was black but had little regard for civil rights
...
Several incidents leading up to the SelmaMontgomery march publicized the need for a Voting Rights Act
...
Without the popular
attention and the national criticism King orchestrated to this ‘bloody Sunday’, Johnson and Congress
wouldn’t have been pressured to deliver the Voting Rights Act, 1965
...

King’s tactics for civil rights wasn’t only focused on media attention to but also his charisma and
religious oratory of non-resistance allowed him to widen the scope of white support than any other
civil rights leader
...

Significantly portraying King’s Leadership at its best, maintaining black morale, advertising
effectiveness of non-violent protest and publicly voicing the infamous ‘I have a dream speech’
...
15 For example, joining the debate on the civil
rights draft bill initiated by President John F Kennedy which culminated in the March on Washington
in 1963 and the signing of the Civil Rights Act in July 1964
...

Meier idealises King as the most ‘charismatic leader the civil rights movement ever had’16 (Appendix
1A)
...
However, after 1965, King began to lose
popularity, dissolved by failed campaigns and distraction of the Vietnam War
...


12

Vivienne Sanders’ Race relations in the USA, 1863-1980, Third edition
Accessed Feb 27 2020
https://www
...
gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era
...
“Trumpet of Conscience: Martin Luther King, Jr
...
Stephen Oates
...

15
Accessed Feb 27 2020
https://www
...
com/programmes/face-to-face/2017/07/malcolm-martin-luther-king170709072506322
...
unzcloud
...
He advocated ‘selfdefence’ and economic advancement ‘by whatever means were necessary’
...
However, Malcolm’s charisma and oratory skills as a
minister of the NOI was significant to the development of black consciousness
...
With rapid growth of
membership ‘from 400 to 40,000 members by 1960’19, showing the scale of influence Malcolm
encompassed
...
He notes how
King’s preaching of ‘non-violent disobedience’ (Appendix 2B) was at odds with Malcolm’s promotion
of the ‘liberation of blacks’ even if this led to ‘reciprocal violence’
...
Despite, the end to the ‘separate but equal doctrine’ of 1896,
black people were continually treated as second-class citizens
...
Malcolm X’s ministry focused on the economically disposed or those looking for an alternative
to King’s ‘passive strategies of resistance’
...
His significance in the development of black civil rights is
often restricted to Black nationalism
...
The militant strains of the black
left encouraged the white moderate to sympathise more with King’s agenda
...
He worked well with other civil rights groups and taught whites about the impact of
oppression
...
He helped gain national and international visibility and
interest for the civil rights movement by advertising separatism via speeches and sermons that were
misconceived as encouraging racial hatred
...
His separatist message entailed a
long-term significance even after his assassination in 1965 with episodes of urban riots as an
alternative to the disillusion of non-violent protest
...
google
...
uk/books?id=skXRCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Michael+Dyson,+Making+Mal
colm:+The+Myth+and+Meaning+of+Malcolm+X&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_59CBv67mAhXUURUIHRvDAJQ
Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Dyson%2C%20Making%20Malcolm%3A%20The%20Myth%20and%20M
eaning%20of%20Malcolm%20X&f=false
18

Race Relations in the USA 1863-1980, third edition, pg
...
google
...
uk/books?id=skXRCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Michael+Dyson,+Making+Mal
colm:+The+Myth+and+Meaning+of+Malcolm+X&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_59CBv67mAhXUURUIHRvDAJQ
Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Dyson%2C%20Making%20Malcolm%3A%20The%20Myth%20and%20M
eaning%20of%20Malcolm%20X&f=false
19

considered as a cultural figure than a political agent thus it’s difficult to measure his significance in
terms of legislation
...
He’s praised for introducing the Civil Rights Act (1964), a landmark
legislation, creating equal opportunities for all
...
Johnson’s speech to Congress (1965)
to 70 million citizens had a resonating impact shortly after events in Selma
...

One could argue that he’s significant than King in terms of his impact on pushing civil rights
legislation further as President
...
So, I ask you to join me in
working long hours and nights and weekends, if necessary, to pass this bill… I recognize that from
outside this chamber is the outraged conscience of a nation, the grave concern of many nations and
the harsh judgement of history on our acts
...
’ 21
(Appendix 1C)
Indeed, the source is convincing in its examination of the civil rights struggle continuing over, ‘100
years’
...
Regardless of the efforts of the Freedmen’s Bureau
(1865) and the citizenship granted by the ratification of the 14th Amendment (1868), progress
stagnated
...
However, he claims that the ‘battle will not be over’,
suggesting that far-reaching changes still need to be achieved
...
This increases the
value of this source to Johnson’s significance in bringing attention to the need of long-term changes
in stimulating civil rights
...
During the mid-war
period from 1920-1930 it provided employment opportunities, breaking through the agricultural jobceiling
...
Yet, Johnson is correct
in his judgment of the continuous ‘bigotry and injustice’
...
Johnson
reveals his first-hand awareness of the extent of racism in the South: ‘As a man whose roots go
deeply into Southern soil, I know how agonizing racial feelings are
...
23 Johnson reveals the importance of
overcoming one’s ‘agonizing racial feelings’ that are embedded in the white community
...

His determination towards civil rights legislation demonstrates federal government as a proactive
ally, fulfilling King’s wishes
...
historyplace
...
htm

22

Accessed 15 March 2020 https://www
...
com/speeches/johnson
...
historyplace
...
htm

23

Deal’ (1933-39) and Truman’s mixed success of the ‘Fair Deal’ (1945-1953) with his vision of ‘the
‘Great Society’ in 1964
...
3% to almost 23
...
This confirms the reliability of the source
to Johnson’s durable improvements to civil rights
...
Undoubtedly, King’s pressure on non-violent
resistance couldn’t have achieved long term political success without Johnson
...

Significance of King to the civil rights struggle is clear-cut; he’s the ordained face of the civil rights
movement; no other individual had reached King’s level
...
King grew in significance posthumously
alongside his perceived rival, Malcolm X
...
As Historian Dyson
indicates ‘King dreamed whilst Malcolm saw nightmares’24 (Appendix 2B)
...
25 In turn, overemphasis on the roles of
these two individuals dissolves the critical efforts of their predecessors
...
On the other hand, King didn’t face the fullblown prejudice that existed in the late 19th century that his predecessors were conditioned to and
unable to challenge
...
Meier stresses King’s unprecedented
strategies of ‘securing publicity through mass arrests and precipitating violence’ (Appendix 2A) is
remarkable
...
However, the real change to inequality was achieved by the end of the 20th century, 100 years
since the Emancipation proclamation which reveals the bigger impact of presidential support
...
It is significant that many historians conclude their studies of civil rights in 1968 with King’s
death as not much was achieved after
...
But it’s important to note the significance of King grew more mainstream after his
assassination than he’s credited to at the time
...
google
...
uk/books?id=skXRCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Michael+Dyson,+Making+Mal
colm:+The+Myth+and+Meaning+of+Malcolm+X&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_59CBv67mAhXUURUIHRvDAJQ
Q6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Dyson%2C%20Making%20Malcolm%3A%20The%20Myth%20and%20M
eaning%20of%20Malcolm%20X&f=false
25
August A
...
unzcloud
...
Martin Luther King Jr
...
[volume], October 26, 1901, Image 2
https://chroniclingamerica
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gov/lccn/sn83016810/1901-10-26/ed-1/seq2/#date1=1789&index=6&rows=20&words=1901+BOOKER+T+WASHINGTON&searchType=basic&se
quence=0&state=&date2=1963&proxtext=Booker+T
...
newspapers
...
eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQzNDI3OTUyNSwiaWF0IjoxNTc3ODk0MDMzLCJleHAiOjE1Nzc
5ODA0MzN9
...
Johnson: “We Shall Overcome” speech, 1965
https://www
...
com/speeches/johnson
...
google
...
uk/books?id=skXRCwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Michael+Dyson,+M
aking+Malcolm:+The+Myth+and+Meaning+of+Malcolm+X&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_59CBv67m
AhXUURUIHRvDAJQQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Dyson%2C%20Making%20Malcolm%3A%
20The%20Myth%20and%20Meaning%20of%20Malcolm%20X&f=false
August Meier, On the Role of Martin Luther King
https://www
...
net/PDF/PERIODICAL/NewPolitics-1965q1/52-60/

Appendix 1A
The Appeal
...
Washington is the embodiment of common sense, and, instead of inciting the members of
his race to dwell upon their wrongs, to waste the time upon politics, and to try to get something for
nothing in this life, in order to live without work, he has constantly preached the gospel of honest
work, and has founded a great industrial school, which fits the young Negroes for useful lives as
workers and teachers of industry to others
...
It is
evident that the only objection that could be brought against association with such a man as that is
colour alone, and President Roosevelt will not recognise that prejudice
...
King is not really a polished orator
...
He misses with a phrase
...
He spoke of the 100 years that have passed since Lincoln signed
the Emancipation Proclamation, and that Negroes still are fighting for the full rights
...
“Now!” said the man in front of me
...
” Even in the red hills of Georgia, he said, black and white will sit down together at the table
of brotherhood
...
” Even in Mississippi he said, this will come to pass
...
” Each time he said it, it was like the tolling of a
bell
...
I am white, 37 years old,
with a wife and three children
...
I have
never invited a Negro to my home
...
Perhaps that is what is wrong
...
’

Appendix 1C
Lyndon B
...

We have already waited 100 years and more and the time for waiting is gone
...
And I don’t make
that request lightly, for, from the window where I sit, with the problems of our country, I recognize
that from outside this chamber is the outraged conscience of a nation, the grave concern of many
nations and the harsh judgement of history on our acts
...
What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every
section and state of America
...
Their cause must be our cause too
...

And we shall overcome
...
I know
how difficult it is to reshape the attitudes and the structure of our society
...
And he not fully free tonight
...
But emancipation is a proclamation and not a fact
...
But this can be said of the successes of the civil
rights nonviolent action movement generally
...
In fact, contrary to the official nonviolent direct-action philosophy,
demonstrations have secured their results not by changing the hearts of the oppressors through a
display of nonviolent love, but through the national and international pressures generated by the
publicity arising from mass arrests and incidents of violence
...
King abhors violence; as at Selma, for example, he
constantly retreats from situations that might result in the deaths of his followers
...
We need only cite Birmingham and Selma
to illustrate this point
...
’

Appendix 2B
Michael Dyson, Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, 1996
‘Malcolm relentlessly preached the virtues of black determination and self-defence even as he
denounced the brainwashing of black people by Christian preachers like king who espoused passive
strategies of resistance in the face of white racist violence
...
As King preached non-violent civil disobedience, Malcolm promoted the liberation of blacks
by whatever means were necessary, including (though not exclusively, as some have argued) the
possibility of armed self-defence
...
It was Malcolm’s
unique ability to narrate the prospects of black resistance at the edge of racial apocalypse that made
him both exciting and threatening
...
Malcolm boldly specified
in lucid rhetoric the hurts, agonies, and frustrations of black people chafing from an enforced racial
science about the considerable cultural costs of white racism

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