So what did Malcom X achieve?
Malcolm X certainly highlighted what we now view as the classic symptoms of prejudice almost like the legendary civil rights broadcast done by J F Kennedy, when the president highlighted the differences in lifestyle between blacks and whites in USA. The huge difference was the way Malcolm X believed such problems could be solved.Another argument has been forwarded. Malcolm X knew all along that what he was saying and pushing for would be rejected by Washington and that his views would shock the white political power brokers in Washington and make the views of Martin luther king seem far more acceptable. By rejecting Malcolm X, it is said that he made Washington accept the views of King – a ploy he was not only aware of but was driving all along.
Thurgood Marshall was highly critical of Malcolm X and claimed that N.O.I was “run by a bunch of thugs”. However, many young dispossessed black youths followed him as he at the time seemed to be the only one who offered them some form of hope and future.