Black Bourgeoisie

There is this general view that Malcom X and Martin Luther King didn’t see eye to eye, and their ideas oppose each other’s point of views. It’s commonly understood that MLK and Malcom X were on opposite ends of the spectrum; Malcom X having a radical approach as compare to MLK, and MLK believing in collaboration and peaceful protests to be the best way moving forward. However, I would like to point out two major points over which Martin Luther King and Malcom X both agreed, which reflects how similar they were in terms of their ideas. 

Both MLK and Malcom X identified the black middle class as one of the major problems. They were of the view that the Black middle class had become docile and sympathetic to the current system. The Black middle class had no incentive and motivation to change the status quo. MLK was of the view that Blacks who were well off felt more socially and economically secure. Also, in some way, they benefitted from the segregation. So, they “unconsciously became insensitive to the problems of the masses”. This also indicates the mentality of house slave versus the field slave. The black slave who works in the fields, who is the recipient of violence is more prone to revolting. However, the house slave doesn’t have any reason to revolt because he is sitting comfortably inside the house beside his master. MLK tried to depict the same kind of mentality present among the Black middle class. Similarly, Malcom X also points towards the black middle class. In Malcom X’s speech, he quoted Franklin Frazier who called the middle-class Blacks as “black bourgeoisie”. Malcom X claims middle-class black individuals have been trained to be patriots and individualists. They have been cut off from the mainstream black community. They have become a pawn of White Man’s politics. They speak what the white master tells them to speak. He goes on to say that these black minority middle-class which is politically active only wants the approval of the white people, and they have been detached from the black community. They have lost their identity and they want to convert and be like white folk. He calls the black bourgeoisie “brainwashed” and “white minded”. So, it is safe to assume that both MLK and Malcom X were putting forth the same key Principle. Both of them believed that the black middle class was a part of the broader problem. The black middle class needed to be woken up. Both of them wanted to instill consciousness in the black middle class. 

The second front on which Malcom X and MLK agree on is not accepting unjust man-made laws. Furthermore, both of them believed in some notion of Universal moral law, that transcended from a supreme being. MLK was known more for his negotiation and collaboration. However, in the letter that he wrote, he spoke against the unjust laws and refused to follow them. Not following the law equates with going against the state. Martin Luther King in his letter talked about how an unjust law is the one that is not aligned with the moral code. The moral code or the moral law is the law of God, which is the natural law which ought to be followed. “An unjust law is a human law which is not rooted in eternal and natural law”. However, if a law is hurting the common people, and benefiting one particular segment of the society at the expense of another, then that law must not be followed and actively protested against. Similarly, Malcom’s notion of law also transcends from a supreme being. He was of the view that the just Law of God would catch up with the unjust law of American society and politics. He believed that the divine law was ideal for sustaining society, and that law must be implemented. “We believe in the Creator, whose divine power and laws of justice created and sustain the universe”. Both Malcom and MLK agreed in a supreme law. The supreme law must not be contested by the man-made law. If the man-made law is not aligned with the principles of the divine law, then that law but be scrapped off and true just law must be established.