What do you think of Cone's view that the legacies of King and X are complementary and mutually corrective?

In Chapter Nine, Cone notes that King and Malcolm X didn't associate, largely because of King's desire not to be tainted by Malcolm's bad reputation. However, they fought for the same goal, the liberation of black people. This was their common goal, but they had different means of achieving it. Cone believes that King's strategy worked best in the South, Malcolm in the North, King for Christians, Malcolm X for those alienated from Christianity. However, Cone believes both had flaws in their strategies. King simply never understood the degree of black oppression and alienation due to his middle-class background. He could not understand the black ghetto in the same way that Malcolm X could. Malcolm X's power came from African heritage, not Christianity. He believed in self-confidence. Malcolm understood that race riots would come, but Martin understood the downside of violence well—whites would simply use violence as an opportunity to kill blacks.

Cone argues that both of their methods were effective, but for the regions they came from, Martin King for the Southern, Christian, rural black populations, and Malcolm for the Northern, less religious, urban populations. However, Cone also emphasizes the Malcolm and Martin both moved towards one another in the end, King as much as Malcolm X. King would even say that he sometimes identified with Malcolm X. When he turned to the North, he began to speak of blackness. He became less sympathetic to reformism and more hostile to white moderates and white liberals. While their images before the media would not allow them to associate, they were profoundly interested in one another and shared a mutual respect.

In many ways, they also corrected one another. Malcolm prevented King's philosophy from letting whites take advantage of blacks with no consequences. Some even argued that King's demand that blacks love whites was too burdensome. However, Martin's worries about Black Nationalism, violence and Black Power were also well-placed. Malcolm thought the threat of violence would scare white people into recognizing blacks, but Cone believes he was wrong about that. These two men represented American blacks' dual identity—as Americans (King) and as Africans (Malcolm). They represented the conflict in the soul of black America.