Through his descriptions of the injustices Africans Americans faced, Malcom X reveals an “Us-Them” attitude. The description “Us-Them” mindset comes from the philosopher Walter Kaufmann, an American immigrant from Germany who fled from the oppression of the Nazis (Princeton). Kaufmann defines the perennial attitude “Us-Them” by giving descriptions of the qualities of both “Us” and “Them. Examining Malcom X’s speech in the context of the “Us-Them” mindset will help reveal the ideologies Malcom X had. The prerogatives of “Us” include: righteousness, intelligence, integrity, humanity, and victory whereas, “Them” includes: wickedness, stupidity, hypocrisy, brutality, and ultimate defeat (Rhetoric Book pg.132). Malcom X says, “[Although] my religion is still Islam…I am not here to change your religion…it’s time for us to submerge our differences and realize…we have the same problem.” Malcom X wanted all the African American’s within the audience to realize despite their differences they all faced a common problem. …show more content…
Furthermore X “Us-Them” attitude becomes more apparent when he says, “We are all in the same boat and we are all going to catch hell from the same man. He just happens to be the white man.” Malcom X not only identifies the problem (the white man), but he also makes the audience (African American’s) realize the problem relates to their daily life’s. Throughout the speech, Malcom X gives several examples of the wickedness and hypocrisy of the white man. Statements made by Malcom X such as, “[The white’s] get all the Negro vote, and after they get it, the Negro gets nothing in return” and “Uncle Sam's hands are dripping with blood, dripping with the blood of the black man in this
In this essay “Saved,”’ by Malcolm X. Malcolm is talking about how he went to prison and how that made him want to improve his language. So he got a holed of a dictionary and read it. while doing this, he though to himself he also could improve his hand writing so when he would read the dictionary he would also write down what he read. than he would read what he wrote down out loud, this made him a faster writer and a good reader. Now because of this, Malcolm loved reading he said he would stay up all night reading and only would get 4 to 5 hours of sleep, but that was all he needed.
The chapter seventeen, of the autobiography of Malcolm X, is about Malcolm X’s experiences during his visit to Mecca to perform hajj He was a Muslim minister, a leader in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam. In the beginning of this chapter, Malcolm X starts off by telling the readers that all Muslims must attempt the pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca at least once, "if humanly able".
autobiography. He also illustrates his early experiences of segregation, as early as before he was born:
Malcolm X is an important figure in human history because he was a human rights activist and fought for equality among people. He was a proficient public speaker who spoke for minorities, mostly African Americans. By reading Malcolm X’s story, I visualize on how a man suffered from the effects of prejudice and his whole disposition was formed from it. I see how a very angry man stayed angry at the "white devils" f...
...shows a stark contrast between the American ideal and America's. 'victims' encounter, saying, "I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare. Furthermore, he vehemently denies that any black is American through an interesting and rather confrontational metaphor: I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat with nothing on. my plate and call myself a dinerâ€Sitting at a table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate." Thus, Malcolm X uses his speech to unify the Negroes on two fronts.
"I 'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it 's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem..." (The Ballot or the Bullet). Here, he was able to work off situated ethos since he was publically known as a militant black leader. When Malcolm X had made a statement about a person that was negative, he would explain that it wasn’t the person, or group of people that he was against but instead how they acted. "I 'm not anti-Democrat, I 'm not anti-Republican, I 'm not anti-anything. I 'm just questioning their sincerity, and some of the strategy that they 've been using on our people by promising them promises that they don 't intend to keep." This showed that Malcolm X’s interest in the issue wasn’t based off prejudices, rather, his genuine passion to help his fellow African Americans. "Now in speaking like this, it doesn 't mean that we 're anti-white, but it does mean we 're anti-exploitation, we 're anti-degradation, we 're anti-oppression. And if the white man doesn 't want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us." Malcolm wanted to clarify that he had nothing against the groups, but
Malcolm X begins breaking down the bridge between Black and White America at the beginning of the speech, phrasing his sentences in such a way as to convince his audience of the fact that your place of residence does not determine who you are, and therefore blacks shouldn't identify with White America. Though blacks are considered "citizens" of the United States, Malcolm X asserts "Everything that came out of Europe, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. As long as you and I have been over here, we aren't Americans yet." Malcolm X continuously refers back to the concept for the rest of his speech, stating that blacks are not Americans; rather, they are "just" Africans. He begins the sentence with "Everything that came out of Europe," creating the impression that absolutely everybody from Europe was accepted into American society, including low class criminals and other people of such low moral character, while all blacks, even highly educated individuals such as MLK, Jr. are still looked down upon in societythis statement fuels the already passionate and strong hatred of his black audience.
In the essay by Garry Willis called “Two Speeches Based Upon Race”, he references important beliefs that Lincoln held about the United States while also referencing Obama who had a subtle theme that is also present in some of Martin Luther King Jr’s writings.
A big way for the truth to become lost would be institutionally speaking how teachers stray away from topics because there isn’t enough “time” or they don’t have enough knowledge to teach about a certain subject. Within an instructor’s power they can put things that they deem more important into the curriculum which then can cause erasure and misinformation. For example, in my history classes throughout K-12 there was always this framework of Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcom X and constantly belittling what Malcom X did. The institution was trying to teach that MLK Jr. was better than the “savage” Malcom X which always confused me because they both were activist making strides. If anything, Malcom X was hardly mentioned at all and it was
In order to prove to his audience of what power they could have when they unite and that they have been made “chumps” by a “white nationalist” government, Malcolm X builds his speech on the three rhetorical proofs. He uses logos in the form of deductive reasoning and occurrences to show that black people have been victimized by the white-run government, and to give them a solution; he uses ethos to establish his character and status as a freedom fighter as well as to bring together black Americans; and he uses pathos through repetition a...
...e and perseverance, another lesson taught by Malcolm X. He states in his Letters from Mecca, that brotherhood can save America from imminent racial disaster and remove the “cancer of racism” (Griffith, 516). Even though the media made him look bad, he knew that he could not lash out, get frustrated and give up. He kept going. He never gave up and today he is looked back upon to be one of the greatest men in American history due to his efforts in changing America. To end, while many take some time to learn about the truth, several others believe what they hear and spread the lies. The truth can only be found if one seeks it and in order to seek the truth ignorance and blind belief needs to be eliminated. America was founded on the basis of freedom of religion and that is what Americans need to continue to uphold by educating themselves and accepting all religions.
...ack Nationalism to coexistence. He pointed out how America can live without racial problems that it had since slavery. This was a road trip for Malcolm X from the Nation of Islam which used the name of Islam to promote its own social and political agenda to that of true Islam, which allows Malcolm X to see an alternative approach towards his objectives.. George Breitman in his book “The Last Year of Malcolm X” states “…if they adopt Malcolm’s strategy, accept his legacy and develop it n accord with the logic of the direction in which he was moving during his last year, then all of America will be transformed…” Reading the Ballot or the Bullet after knowing this will make one think beyond the actual words that are mentioned in the speech. Today, because of his boldness, Malcolm X is viewed by many, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., as a great civil rights leader.
...alcolm X starts off the speech stating that blacks need to unite against the common enemy but then goes on to call out some blacks as Uncle Toms. If he really wanted to present his speech as one about unity, and not about religion he should have discuss that theme in a different light. Present a way for blacks to unite, without putting down one another. Exactly what he’s speaking against, he was a bit guilty of doing as well.
The Negro revolution is a stagnant fight; the black revolution is a fight with one decisive winner. In this talk of revolution he also pointed out the hypocrisy of the American people on the subject of violence. How many black people will to go war for a country that hates them and do not even want them in the country, but when a white man strikes them they turned a blind eye because “peace” is the answer. “If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad”(MalcomX, Message to the Grassroots), many people would agree with this sentiment. Why condemn those who want to fight for something they believe in using violence when we as a country are doing the same thing overseas. Later in the speech, Malcolm X calls out the modern house Negros we have today in the United States. A house Negro was the slaves who stayed in the living quarter with their master and were maids and butlers and tended to the children. The latter are the filed Negros who worked in the fields and stayed in
Malcolm X, an associate of the Black Panthers and a brother of the Black muslime movement, went on to write “The Ballot or the Bullet”; was this not only a response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech opposing violence, he did not share Martin’s nonviolent ways, and he was sure of a violent seizure of civil rights. Due to the frustration built up with the slow gesture of white people in reaching a decision on black rights in America.