The Black pearls in the white desert :: The Dynamics of the religious discourse of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. on Black identity

LATIEF, Hilman, Dr. Mulyadhi Kartanegara

2003 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Perbandingan Agama

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menelaah pemikiran keagamaan dari tokoh pernuka agama Muslim dan Kristen berkulit hitam yang direpresentasikan oleh Malcolm X, seorang orator karismatik dari orsanisasi Nation of Islam, dan Martin Luther King Jr., seorang pembicara ulung dari Gereja Baptist di Amerika. Malcolm X dan Martin Luther King Jr. secara kritis menkampanyekan gagasan- gagasan tentang keadilan, kesetaraan, kebebasan, dan pada saat yang sama, menentang pelbagai bentuk diskriminasi. Peneiitian ini setidaknya menyoroti empat pqrsoalan pokok dari pemikiran Malcolm X dan Martin Luther King, antara lain: refleksi teologis mereka tentang agama, Tuhan, dan manusia, dan juga konsep mereka rnasyarakat sebagai implikasi praksis dari wacana keagamaan keduanya. Satu ha1 penting dari penelitian ini ialah bahwa peneiiti menggunakan gagasan identitas kulit hitam di kalangar! komunitas Afro-American sebagai dasar analisisnya. Penelitian ini menyatakan bahwa pada periode awal dari kedua tokoh ini, terdapat gagasan-gagasan yang satu sama lain dapat dikatakan berseberangan. Sebagai seorang tokoh yang begitu peduli dengan masyarakat kulit hitam, Malcdm X and Martin Luther King Jr. melakukan interpretasi yang bernuansa ras dalam memahami agama. Secara teologis, baik Malcolm maupun King mendasarkan pada sumber yang berbeda, yang pertama mendasarkan pada ajaran Islam, khususnya ajaran Nation of Islam, sedangkan yang kedua pada tradisi Kristen. Namun demikian, akhirnya kedua atur pemikiran tersebut mencapai "titik temu" yang terumuskan dalam konsep integrated community dan beloved community.

This research attempts to investigate the religious thought of both Black Muslim and Christian religious leaders represented by Malcolm X, a charismatic orator of the Nation of Islam, and Martin Luther King Jr., an impressive speaker of the Baptist Church in United States. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. critically campaign for the idea of justice, equality, freedom, and at the same time, opposed any discriminative demeanors. The observation, at least, highlights four essential points of both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King's notion: their theological reflection concerning on religion, God, and human being, and also their concept of community as a practical implication of their religious discourse. One important point of this research is that the writer uses the idea of Black identity among Afro-American ,community as the basic analysis. The data obtained from the bibliographical review are qualitatively analyzed in a comparative way. The research found that in the early period of both, there were opposite ideas among them in expressing their belief. As black leaders who seriously ! aware on black people, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. originally used racial interpretation in their understanding of religion. 111 the light of their unique understanding, however, Malcolm and King proposed and conceptualized religions . in order to increase the black awareness of their historical sources. Theologically, Malcolm and King had different sources and backgrounds, the former based €heir religious thinking on Islam, especially the Nation of Islam, and the later based on the Christian tradition. Finally, Malcolm's idea after his pilgrimage to Mecca and King's notion after 'pilgrimage' to India met in the idea of integrated and beloved community. Both rejected racism and racialism on the one hand, but on the other hand they still believed that repairing their expectations, their social and political processes, and their understanding about life systematically, would encourage the future of black people. Increasing the social, educational, and economic domain among blacks is the best way to get better opportunities for them to live competitively in this pluralistic world. Peace, equality, freedom, and justice in all aspect of life are the main goals of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.

Kata Kunci : Teologi Agama,Malcolm X dan Martin L King,Afro American, Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr., Afro-American Religion, and Black Iden tit y .