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Malcolm X's impact on bringing about equality to African Americans in the USA in the 1960's
Malcolm x influence on civil rights movement
Malcolm X's impact on bringing about equality to African Americans in the USA in the 1960's
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The year of 1964 was the peak of the American civil rights movement. There were two well-remembered activists within the civil rights movement. One was supporting civil disobedience, and one for revolution. Martin Luther King a Christian minister, pushed for a peaceful ending to the inequality of the African Americans, while Malcolm X, a Muslim minister, spoke in favor of self-reliance and violence if they didn’t get their rightful freedom. In Malcom X’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet,” He declares that 1964 is the year of the ballot or the bullet, “liberty or death.” His main purpose of using aggressive language was to unite the African Americans in their civil rights battle against the government that was lead mainly by a white majority. He wanted to convince them that they could have more power as long as they all unite. They would have the power to put a president in the White House, the power to control their communities, and the power to get the freedom that has been denied to them. Malcolm X mentions in his speech that there are two ways that the “Afro-Americans” can get their freedom. Either the “white man” can give it to them, or they can take their freedom through a bloody revolution.
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...
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...s “The Bullet or the Ballot” is a call to action. His audience has been suffering for centuries, and he believes that it is time to end this suffering. He looks around and sees examples of civil disobedience, and doesn’t believe that this will be enough to win the freedom of his people. In order to preach his solution, and possibly start a revolution toward their rights, he uses all three rhetorical proofs. He uses logos to prove that black Americans have been taken advantage of by the “white man” and proposes a solution, he uses ethos to state his character and credibility so that his audience will be more likely to listen to his solution, and he uses overwhelming pathos that urges the audience to act on his solution. As is clear from his most famous speech, Malcolm X was not only an extremely powerful and influential leader, but also a brilliant Freedom Fighter.
Understandably, Malcolm X was not influenced by white philosophers and thinkers, drawing much of his advocacy from fellow black nationalists. However, certain ideas he espoused have inherent overlap with figures he did not necessarily craft his beliefs from. John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government set an ideological precedent that many still ascribe to today, and even though Malcolm X did not describe himself as a libertarian that does not preclude him from sharing similar values with Locke. While Malcolm X never directly alluded to the works of John Locke, he aligns with Locke on a myriad of issues relating to natural rights and government, and his speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” illuminates a justification of black resistance found
Additionally, the two men incorporated imagery into their speeches. By instilling vivid descriptions of their visions for the future into their audience, they were able to increase the effectiveness of using pathos and present a clear perspective of their beliefs. Dr. King primarily used imagery metaphorically throughout his speech. Phrases like "lonely island of poverty", "dark and desolate valley of segregation", and "solid rock of brotherhood" emphasized the emotion he's trying evoke from the audience. Malcolm X used descriptive words as well when he said, “The black revolution… is sweeping down upon America like a raging forest fire. It is only a matter of time before America herself will be engulfed by these black flames…” Malcolm's purpose
...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.
In the letter, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Jr, and the speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X, the authors discuss their very different viewpoints on what form of freedom would it take to accomplished their goal. While King believes that peaceful approaches would allow the black community to achieve equality with the white Americans, Malcolm X thinks achieving equality with white Americans is nearly impossible; therefore, he preaches a separatist doctrine. Although King and X are both fighting for the black community’s rights and their integration into the nation’s system, their approaches differ significantly. King and X differ in three main areas: their ultimate goals, the strategies to accomplish those goals, and their use of rhetoric.
...artin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X approach the same problem differently. They both use pathos, a central metaphor, and give a warning. However, Martin Luther King Jr. uses pathos to create a welcoming and patriotic feeling whereas Malcolm X uses fear. Martin Luther King Jr. uses a check, used on a daily basis, as the object of his central metaphor; Malcolm X uses a powder keg, a very damaging and dangerous object, as the object of his central metaphor. Lastly, Martin Luther King Jr. warns his audience that the people of color will revolt passively. On the other hand, Malcolm X warns his audience that the people of color will revolt violently with bloodshed. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both achieve their goal. After reading both speeches, Malcolm X seems, in my opinion, to have made a greater impact on the white community because fear is stronger than joy.
Rhetorical Analysis of Artifacts: The Ballot or the Bullet? Speech Given by Malcolm X I. Introduction: Though almost half a century has passed, the Civil War. The Rights Movement remains one freshly imprinted in not only the history. books of US schools, but also in the minds of countless Americans.
As one of the most proficient civil rights activist of the 1960's, Malcolm X and his speeches were very influential but particularly one speech was highly esteemed, that being the Ballot or the Bullet speech. A speech that was given after the "I have A Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. Despite, Dr. Martin Luther King being a pacifist and also a civil rights activist as well; Malcolm X was more tyrannical and advocated the use of violence. During this era, the democrats were in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, therefore both the Senate and the House of Representatives were leaning towards providing more civil rights to African-Americans. The purpose of Malcolm X’s speech was to convince African Americans to become more politically aware and to vote members of their own race into office.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States. During his campaign he had promised to lead the country down the right path with the civil rights movement. This campaign promise had brought hope to many African-Americans throughout the nation. Ever since Lincoln, African-Americans have tended to side with the democrats and this election was no different. The Kennedy administration had noticed that the key to the presidency was partially the civil rights issue. While many citizens were on Kennedy’s side, he had his share of opposition. Malcolm X differed on the view of the President and observed that the civil rights movement wasn’t happening at the speed Kennedy had pledged. Malcolm X possessed other reasons for his dislike of John F. Kennedy and his brothers, especially Robert. The Kennedy government stood for racial liberalism and Malcolm X argued their true intentions for the civil rights movement weren’t in the best interest of the black population. This tension streamed both ways. John Kennedy and the Federal Bureau of Investigation felt that Malcolm X had become a threat to national security. James Baldwin has written essays that have included the repeated attacks on the white liberal and supports Malcolm in many of his theories and actions.
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
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
He questions, “How can you justify being nonviolent in Mississippi and Alabama when your churches are being bombed and your little girls are being murdered, and at the same time you’re getting violent with Hitler and Tojo and somebody that you don’t even know?” (Malcom X, 4) Malcom points out the incongruity of a dispute for nonviolence when the very nation of which they live in responds with violence whenever they feel threatened or provoked even in the slightest. He stirs up an emotional reaction talking about “your little girls” being murdered and makes the statement relatable. The white oppressors of the time could be seen as a “Hitler,” and he feels the only way America responded to him was through violence, so they should do the
The civil rights movement in America contains two transformational figures; one being Martin Luther King Jr., who preached the message of love and unity between blacks and whites. However, on the opposite end, Malcolm X used messages laced with fear and separatism. Nevertheless, both sought the same goal of racial justice for blacks in the United States. This paper will explore the opposite viewpoints of these two pivotal figures and how they separately and unwittingly complemented each other to achieve the overall goal of racial justice.
On November 10th, 1963 Malcolm x released a speech called “Message to the Grassroots”. He had opened up the minds of all Africans and other nationalities. During this speech he gave everyone around him the ugly truth about America. In message to the grassroots speech Malcolm states “You are ex-slaves. You didn’t come here on the “Mayflower.” You came here on a slave ship — in chains, like a horse, or a cow, or a chicken”.The purpose to saying this was to show that the white man had brought us to america by force and not by choice. Malcolm Believed that the only way to end inequality was to start a revolution.
Malcolm X claimed that to avoid By surrounding themselves by philosophies that galvanize black equality and attending only black churches. Malcolm X told his audience, “economic philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that we should own and operate and control the economy of our community”. He explains that this way of thinking would benefit his people to start their own businesses so the white people can stop overruling in the black community. The author inspires his audience to join him in taking a stand in the civil rights movement by encouraging them to “join any kind of organization, civic, religious, fraternal, political, or otherwise that’s based on lifting the black man up and making him master of his own community.” Malcolm X states where he stands in this dispute he calls the start of a revolution claiming, “It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.” In his speech Malcolm X spoke about being ready to die if you fight and he wanted the black community to support this belief at all costs
As more and more young activists in the United States lost faith in the slowly proceeding civil rights movement, demands to end separatism came increasingly to the forefront. Young radicals in the group known as the “Black Panthers” highlighted black power by taking control of their own organizations and moving forward on their own. In his UC Berkeley speech, Stokley Carmichael, preached for the whites to, “move on over or we’ll move on over you.”1 Carmichael’s speech informed the new thinking of the aggravated radicals, and the urgency the Black Panthers had to gain their freedom from the racial discrimination. Malcolm X, the very influential human rights activist, was on the same page as Carmichael in saying that, “if the ballot did not work, then it would have to be the bullet.”2 The growing impatience of the oppressed no longer agreed with the go-slow, non-violent movements before the...