Martin Luther King, Marcus Garvey, & Malcolm X Discussion

2012: Segregation Still at Its Worst The way todays events and the lifestyle of living is approached, the people of our past would have been surprised to know how much we have accomplished, and even more surprised to know some things still remain the same. Since the beginning of mankind, people have fought for their rights in order to make life a much easier way to live with one another. Documents like the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and even far back to the Ten Commandments, have been written to show some sort of peace structure to live by, with out harming one another.
In America, freedom, justice, and equality for all has been a major issue that is yet to be fully fulfilled. Although, America is all about supporting the three lifestyles, the people are the ones who make the situation almost impossible to reach. If the strong leaders from our past were alive today helping us reach the right decision to these matters, the solutions would come even sooner to society based on their helpful ideas, or maybe even the people of today would still be capable of assassinating them for their wise words and leadership.
Leaders like Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr. , and Malcolm X, already had strong voices of opinion then and would have even higher voices today. Taking that if with the advanced science there is today, we would be able to bring back in time the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. , Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey; for them to be able to be the same age they were while showing activism, and have an intellectual conversation with one another about the issues we are still facing, what would they have to say about them?

Matters to discuss like the campaign election with our black President Obama, gangs in the United States, or an even more poplar subject; the battle for legalizing gay marriage throughout the states. Since Egyptian times there have been records of same sex couples, this is not a new subject to mankind but yet we treat it as if it is something our ancestors have never heard of and a new discovery. Gay marriage has been an on going debate in our society. The government trying to control who someone marries is limiting human rights. May 3rd, 2012.
Walking along the beachy streets of Venice, California; Malcolm, Martin, and Marcus, run into each other while still in shock to be alive again where they are. Malcolm and Martin recognizing one another, Malcolm recognizing Marcus, and Marcus not being able to recognize neither since he came from an early time of theirs. After being together for a short amount of time in present day era, they have already learned about many events, issues, and problems there has stumbled through time. Taking a seat on a park bench, they begin to assemble some of their findings and ideas.
Marcus: So men, one topic I’ve been hearing about both negatively and positive about has been the issue on either banning same-sex marriage or legalizing it. What do you all think should be done about that? Malcolm: Well beginning off with that, it brings back the dilemma we were fighting for back in our days for the right of our freedom because of the color of our skin. Even though the issue today is whether or not the same sex should be able to marry, but who is the government to tell someone who they could marry or who they cannot?
Marcus: If it really is this big of an issue, all homosexuals who want to marry should just move to a state like Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legalized, and they could colonize there to be able to marry and be more comfortable in the communities they are in rather than fighting for it where their state will not allow it. Malcolm: Marcus, my father, may he rest in peace, had a big admiration for you and your ideas about how we should have handled racism your way about moving back to Africa to avoid the segregation here.
And so do I. But in this country, we have learned to build up our nation and overcome issues like racism, not fully since it still exists in some ways, but its been handled to avoid discrimination. Now we believe in equality, and equality means that you have to put the same thing over here that you out over there (Malcolm 139). Our country is a nation of freedom, but yet that is taken away when the freedom of others choosing the one to marry, the ones they love, comes to place. Since the beginning of our nation we have been fighting for eligious, racial, and many other basic human rights. Denying gay marriage is fighting against a human’s basic right to love. Marcus Garvey in the beginning of this conversation, is trying to state that if it is really important to homosexuals, they should just leave their state and enter one where same-sex marriage is legal. Something he had also been saying to his people during his reign of leadership, enduring in people’s mind to simply go back to Africa where they are sure to receive equal treatment within their colored people.
Readings had been done about the topic by Martin Luther King, who wanted to uncover deeper about the subject of gay marriage. He learned that conservative Theodore B. Olson, of the republican party, states in his article; “ The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage”, that legalizing same-sex marriage would be a recognition of basic American principles, and it would represent the culmination of our nation’s commitment to equal rights. Theodore also states that it is the last major milestone to be over came in our fight towards civil rights.
After accomplishing the black and white racism battle over the years, much is still the same. Martin Luther King: Well men, after hearing you two discuss yesterday a little of what should be done about the fact of gay marriage, I went off to uncover more about the issue. According to a man by the name of Gary Gates, he did a study of how many homosexuals there are in the United States alone, and it came out to over four million gays, that’s more than four million people we are denying equal rights too!
This does not include people who claim to be bisexual as well. Marcus: Nothing has changed. These white folks have poisoned the rest of our country to harm not only the rights of a negro anymore, but the rights of regular human beings that would only want to be one and marry. They have lost their sympathies throughout, heterosexuals have settled down to see nothing but their own interest (Garvey 205). Martin Luther King: That is right. The tables have turned that even the white folks, deny their own people of color. Only because of the sexuality they have.
Imagine being told the way you were born or see things or feel for them, is wrong? And it had to be untaught to you only because others do not approve for it? Or your religion does not? That is not the way this country should be heading. Malcolm: The internal consciousness of this country is bankrupt. They make it appear they have our good interests at heart, but when you study it, every time, no matter how many steps they take us forward, it’s like we’re standing on a–what do you call that thing? (Malcolm 143). Marcus: … A treadmill! Malcolm: A treadmill!
The treadmill is moving backwards faster than we’re able to go forward in this direction. We’re not even standing still–we’re going backwards. If this country really wants to find a solution to gay marriage, I suggest we take it as an aggressively strong approach to get our voices heard, heard aboard! To where others believe this country is all about equality, we will show them we still aren’t. Because thats the only way America finds conclusions to her problems. When America is afraid of outside pressure, or when she’s afraid of her image abroad (Malcolm 159).
Martin Luther King: Wait here Malcolm, I love your enthusiasm when it comes to doing the right thing for our people, but the way we approach this issue should not be aggressively to the point where we involve outside allies to help us solve our problems. The government will hear it from us, and only us. Our most powerful nonviolent weapon is, as would be expected, also our most demanding, that is organization. To produce change, people must be organized to work together in units of power. Malcolm: So once again King you think we should still be resolving important issues of our society with the help of nonviolence?
Now, I am not judging you on your practice of nonviolence, but I believe that I myself would go for nonviolence if it was consistent, if everybody was going to be nonviolent all the time. I’d say, okay to you King, let’s get with it, we’ll all be nonviolent with the homosexuals. But I don’t go along with any kind of nonviolence unless everybody’s going to be nonviolent. And once that happens, well then, life has really changed. But up until now 40 something years later, things still seem to be the same. So in order to get the human rights there still seems to be achieved, power and aggression should be shown (Malcolm 139).
Martin Luther King: When Negros marched back in our days, so did the nation. If we could only get all the devoted homosexuals who want to marry to unite and march together, the results would be extraordinary. The power of the nonviolent march is indeed a mystery. It will be surprising to have a few hundreds, maybe even thousands, of gays marching to produce a strong reaction in their nation. When marches are carefully organized around well-defined issues, they represent the power which Victor Hugo phrased as the most powerful force in the world, “an ideas whose time has come. Marching feet announce that time has come for a given idea. When the die is a sound one, the cause is just one, and the demonstration a righteous one, change will be forthcoming. And marching once is not going to get us straight to the conclusion we want, it will take several marches to show how serious this really is to different types of peoples lives (Nonviolence 59). Marcus: I’m beginning to agree with what King here has to say…the technique of nonviolence shows to have worked before and it will be a continuous practice to be done in the future obviously.
I still think gays should just move together to find their comfort zone where they are accepted, but that does take away from their pride and human rights they deserve. Now I too did more research on this, and sadly marrying the same sex denies you from even greater problems that are plain out unfair. Many people suggest that same sex couples just get domestic partnership or a civil union, but this does not allow them to benefit from health insurance. They cannot gain from their title of being a wife or husband. Employers don’t allow spouse or children of same sex to have health care coverage and will only extend it through marriage.
Malcolm: That is a big problem. Come to think of it, when someone in your family is hospitalized, the only visitation under critical conditions, are allowed by intermediate family and spouses. So most of these same-sex domestic partnerships are not allowed to see one another if even on the verge of dying. Martin Luther King: They are making it feel that perhaps homosexuals are less than human. The white men at first refused to accept change. And now not only is it the white man who is refusing to accept change it is also the black, the yellow, the brown.
The struggles these gays are going through will begin to help them to evaluate themselves, and with their determination to struggle and sacrifice, until the walls of segregation have been fully crushed by the battering rams of justice, should be met again (Nonviolence 7). Facts about how Gay marriage is illegal is unconstitutional, this law takes away basic rights to gays that are important, it really all comes down to love. Looking around at so many gay couples around America, they were so devoted to one another, as a heterosexual couple is as well.
After discussing this issue with many people who are against same-sex marriage, one was a changed person in regards to it. Marriage is not just a government form to people; it is a way of expressing their life long commitment to one another. Same sex marriage should be legalized because it supports what our nation believes in and will only unite our nation more. If Martin Luther King Jr. , Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey were still alive today, this issue would be one they too would be battling for because banning same sex marriage goes against our nations fight towards equality.
Basic human rights are taken away from gay couples, the last thing these leaders wanted to leave the Earth by was to know that human rights are still taken away from their own people. Something that they fought so hard to get out of. They would want everyone to see same sex marriage as nothing new or different from heterosexual marriage, just as they taught America and the world to see black and white people no different or greater than one another. Gays are humans too and should have the right to commit to the ones they love.