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The Dual Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: the Heroic Narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X

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The Dual Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: the Heroic Narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1995 The Dual oicesV of the Civil Rights Movement: The eH roic Narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr. And Malcolm X. Kerry Paul Owens Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Owens, Kerry Paul, "The Dual oV ices of the Civil Rights Movement: The eH roic Narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr. And Malcolm X." (1995). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5925. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5925 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced frommicrofilm the master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'761-4700 800/521-0600 THE DUAL VOICES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT: THE HEROIC NARRATIVES OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND MALCOLM X A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech Communication Kerry P. Owens B.A., Baylor University, 1988 M.A., Baylor University, 1989 May 1995 UMI Number: 9530492 UMI Microfora 9530492 Copyright 1995, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This aicrofora edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, united States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Andrew King for his help and support during this project as well as throughout my Ph.D. program. It has been an honor to have him guide me through this endeavor with his calls of "cry tough" and his reminders that although the path is long and rocky, the reward makes it all worthwhile. The support of Dr. Harold Mixon and Dr. Owen Peterson is also appreciated. I would also like to thank my parents, Riley and Carolyn Owens. It would be impossible for parents to be more supportive of a child than they have been of me. Thanks must also be extended to my grandparents, Rob and La Verne Owens and Roland and Cara Lois Allison. They are with me always, and I know that they always will be. Thanks must also be extended to Craig and Betty Whitlock, who have been more like a father and mother than a father-in-law and mother-in-law. A very special thanks must also be extended to my wife, Kathy Owens, for being my proofreader and friend. Her love and support are more than I deserve, and she is very much appreciated. Finally, I wish to thank Alan Johnson, Blake Powell, Quinson Brown, Tommie Williams, Christopher Whitlock, Michael Whitlock, and Darius Moore. The fact that they are all my friends serves to remind me of the importance of the civil rights movement. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .................................... 11 A b s t r a c t .............................................. Iv Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................... 1 2 The History of African-American Public Speaking . 27 3 A Review of Critical Literature and ............... Discussion of Method ............................ 49 4 The Universal Journey of Martin Luther King, Jr. 77 5 The Tribal Journey of Malcolm X ..............115 6 Conclusion................................... 160 Works C i t e d ........................................... 182 V i t a ................. 188 iii ABSTRACT Since reconstruction African-American leaders have embodied conflicting aspirations. While some leaders like Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass urged complete assimilation, others like W. E. B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey have preached autonomy and separation. These leaders have tended to serve as icons for rival programs; their rhetoric as authoritative, and their lives as inspired models for future leaders. This dissertation examines the hagiography of the two most famous leaders of the late 20th century, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. It argues that their rhetoric was undergirded by the myth of the heroic quest and that their lives and works embodied variations of this common narrative. A tri-part method was used. First, overt meanings of the texts were explored. Secondly, variants of the mythic quest were isolated. Third, the method explores the moral order of the myths by isolating metaphoric clusters emerging within the discourse. In order to examine the messages of King and Malcolm X, seven speeches of each man were analyzed. The speeches given by King are "Give Us the Ballot-We Will Transform the South," "I Have a Dream," "Eulogy for the Martyred Children," "Nobel Prize Acceptance speech," "Our God Is Marching On!" "A Time to Break Silence," and "I See the Promised Land." The speeches given by Malcolm X are "Message to the Grass Roots," iv "The Ballot or the Bullet," "The Black Revolution," "The Harlem 'Hate Gang1 Scare," "At the Audobon" on December 13, 1964, "With Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer," and "Prospects for Freedom in 1965." Examination of the core texts revealed unexpected similarities between the two messages. The moral vision of nonviolence created a sense of difference between groups as they negotiated the terms of assimilation. Disillusionment with integration was a function of King's message at least two years before his death when he began a rhythmic denunciation of Western civilization. Malcolm X made late overtures to integrate. Time and events will further this merger until both icons are nearly emptied of specific content. v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The modern civil rights movement, a struggle rooted in slavery, reached its peak during the 1960s. Although movement leadership was pluralistic and diverse in means, ends, and goals, two highly visible programs for racial equality dominated public consciousness. One program aimed at complete integration through nonviolent protest. The other program focused on autonomy through African-American economic and cultural independence. Together these groups defined the spectrum of the freedom struggle during the 1960s. The most noted leader of the nonviolent assimilationist group was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was the spokesman for a huge coalition of groups that accepted his rhetoric, tactics, and philosophy. The most extreme contrast to King's doctrine of nonviolence emerged in the form of Black Power advocates. Unlike King's Southern coalition, they came from the primarily urban and secular background of the African-American ghetto. Among the important representatives of this movement were Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Stokely Carmichael. The teachings of Malcolm X provided a significant portion of both the logic and the rhetoric of this militancy. The Movement: Failure and Success Although the civil rights movement that took place during the 1950s and 1960s contained contrasting voices and 1 contrasting messages, such as those of King and Malcolm X, it was one of the most successful social movements in American history. The early civil rights movement won the initial campaigns of 1964-65, securing the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. The movement also integrated restaurants, hotels, schools, and other public facilities (Graham, 1990). The 1960s brought about massive changes for race relations in America. The African-American civil rights movement destroyed the legal underpinnings of the biracial caste system in America. Judged on its original goal of creating legal access, the civil rights movement stands out as a rare and stunning achievement. In a little over a decade, the combination of an African-American social movement and government reformers had destroyed legal barriers to integration, destroyed legalized discrimination against minority groups, dramatically increased the number of franchised African Americans, and achieved the legal rights guaranteed to African Americans under the constitution (Graham, 1990). During the social revolution of the 1960s, African Americans made substantial gains in political participation, education, and economic opportunity. First, African Americans gained power in the political arena. Segregationist politicians like Ross Barnett of Mississippi disappeared, and others like George Wallace of Alabama were forced to adjust to a changing political climate and to court African-American voters. African Americans also made gains in education. The median number of school years for African Americans increased from 10.7 in 1960 to 12.7 in 1972. African-American college attendance increased from 234,000 in 1963 to 1.1 million in 1977. African Americans also made economic gains during the civil rights movement.
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