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Thoughts and analysis of malcolm x the ballot or the bullet
History grade 12 essay civil rights movement
Thoughts and analysis of malcolm x the ballot or the bullet
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The Ballot or the Bullet, was delivered by Malcolm on April 3rd 1964. This speech was delivered and sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality of Cleveland. In this speech, Malcolm urges the black community to rise over their differences and to unite as a front against the oppression of the white man. Malcolm uses rhetoric to highlight the ideas that, firstly, the white man was an exploiter of the black community, and secondly that the Black community should unite as one brotherhood. According to The Ballot or the Bullet, the white government is represented deceivers of the black community. An interesting aspect of this address, is that although the speech expresses themes towards a black uprising to the white man, Malcolm emphasizes
that he himself is not “anti-white”. But instead, he was “anti-oppression” and that the white man just so happened to be the oppressor. This conveys the idea that Malcolm isn’t against whites because he disliked them, but rather he was against whites because they were oppressors. The idea that white politicians were exploiters is seen when Malcolm expresses the fact that white politicians would make fake promises to gain popular vote. He goes on to state the fact that if white politicians, namely Democrats, really planned to change the systematic racism in America, where was the change to be seen. He also highlights the fact that the white man is going against his constitution by not allowing the blacks a vote. By emphasizing the white government's lack of support, Malcolm portrays the government as corrupt, and that the American system systematically disadvantages the blacks within America. Malcolm goes on to state that many blacks were victim to Americanism. Malcolm states that he was, “One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy.”. In this part of the text, the theme of the corrupt government is revisited. In his speech, he highlights that from the first migration to America, all white people were accepted as being American, but the black man since did not receive the privilege as long as he has been in America. Malcolm comes points to the fact that the black community are victims of the corrupt American system by depicting the system as far from fair towards the black community.
Often people are not what they seem. According to Roald Dahl, in “Lamb to the Slaughter,” “But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.” When in public Patrick Maloney was the doting husband, but when the doors hid outside eyes Patrick revealed his true feelings. He wanted a divorce. He wanted to ruin his wife and soon-to-be child, but without anyone knowing. Thought the passage, the tone is revealed as condescending. The way Mr. Maloney talks to his wife is as though she is a small and unknowing child.
Eugene V. Debs, the United State’s most influential union leader and avid socialist gives light to many issues including presidency, systems of society, and most importantly the unemployed in his speech “The Issue”. Debs was imprisoned in the 1890s for illegally encouraging a railroad strike, he also was sentenced to 10 years for his discouragement to the United States’ involvement in World War I. Debs has been a remarkable figure in the socialist party and had influenced so many. In Eugene Debs’ speech, Debs’ uses rhetorical appeal to relate to and convince his audience of the “issues” in the United
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
The chapter, Church, has the troop hold up in a church for a few days. In the church, the monks take an immediately likely to the troop help with food and weapon cleaning. A few of the soldiers discuss what they wanted to do before the war. The troops learn more about each other and insight into what faith can be to them.
“It’ll be the ballot or it’ll be the bullet. It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death.” These are the famous words of Malcolm X in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet. In April, 1964 Malcolm X stood in front of a large crowd in Cleveland, Ohio and explained what the ballot or bullet meant. He was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement and fought to make all African-Americans equal. Malcolm X explained to his audience using a great appeal to ethos, pathos and logos that African-Americans should fight for racial economic and social justice without different religion views standing in the way. He told his audience instead of fighting, meaning the bullet, they could vote for their own leaders or better leaders to represent them, meaning the ballot.
...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 her unforgettable memoir, Barbara Ehrenreich sets out to explore the lives of the working poor under the proposed welfare reforms in her hometown, Key West, Florida. Temporarily discarding her middle class status, she resides in a small cheap cabin located in a swampy background that is forty-five minutes from work, dines at fast food restaurants, and searches all over the city for a job. This heart-wrenching yet infuriating account of hers reveals the struggles that the low-income workers have to face just to survive. In the except from Nickel and Dimed, Ehrenreich uses many rhetorical strategies to illustrate the conditions of the low wage workers including personal anecdotes of humiliation at interviews, lists of restrictions due to limited
the sense that they must stand together against the suppression of the whites and that they must endure their "non-Americanism" amongst the company of one another,. Yet, as soon as he has done this, Malcolm X. turns to make, what might seem, a paradoxical and fairly non-artistic.
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.
On April 12, 1964, Malcolm X stepped in front of a crowd of two thousand in Detroit’s King Solomon Baptist Church. Ministers initially attempted to prevent Malcolm X from using the church to deliver the speech at the last minute, as they had already estimated the potential for controversy (“Say It Plain, Say It Loud”). Many historians deem the speech, titled “The Ballot or the Bullet,” Malcolm X’s greatest performance. Only a month after departing from the Nation of Islam and joining the mainstream Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X already recognized the vital flaw in the movement: the African American expectation of help from the white population. “The Ballot or the Bullet” aimed to point out that flaw and unite all African Americans through
In 1964, Malcolm X gave a speech entitled “The Ballot or the Bullet” which described how African Americans should fight for civil rights in America. Malcolm X emphasizes the importance of voting as a solution to ending discrimination against African Americans. He addresses both the poor voting decisions and also the denial of legitimate voting rights to African Americans. Because elections have been so narrowly decided in recent elections, the Black vote is the deciding factor in elections. Whites have also prevented African Americans from participating in the electoral process.
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
Gun violence is a serious issue in today’s world that is continuing to grow more dangerous. Everyone perceives the issue differently but President Barrack Obama has an exceptional view in which he exemplifies the importance of keeping our nation’s people safe. President Obama speaks to the entire nation in his “Remarks on common-sense gun safety reform” providing thought provoking concepts involving gun violence. Throughout Obama’s speech, he states how he believes in the Second Amendment but contrastingly believes the accessibility of guns needs to be more selective, in order to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands. Obama conveys this message by using a variety of rhetorical elements, most noticeably logos, pathos, and repetition. In President Obama’s
On April 3, 1964, at a meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, a gentleman by the name of Malcolm X, formally known as Malcolm Little, gave an emotional speech entitled “Ballot or Bullet.” During the year in which the speech was given, racism against blacks, segregation, riots, killing and boycotting were very prevalent. The year 1946 was also very significant because it was the first election in which blacks were allowed to vote. In his speech, Malcolm X expected to persuade African Americans to stop attacking one another and unite in the fight against the oppression and degradation of the white man. As Malcolm X began his speech, he started by greeting his moderator, the reverends, friends, family and his enemies. As soon as he walked out in his professional attire
In the voting system, Malcolm X uncovered a technique used by some states to cheat votes. He says, “they got a thing that they call gerrymandering. They maneuver you out of power. Even though you vote, they fix it so you’re voting for nobody; they’ve got you going and coming.”. Malcom X makes it very clear that the government and the state have no representation for African American’s; “it’s just smoked mirrors with piped American dream nightmare” stating that “You and I in America are faced not with a segregationist conspiracy, were faces with a government conspiracy.” Malcolm X felt that there was no action that was going to take place in the US courts because the system was being run by the oppressors. He stated, “Senators from the southern States violate the rights they give people to vote”. He believed that the issue was beyond civil and he was seeking the vote from the UN. In his speech he declares their “next move is to take the entire civil rights struggle problems into the United Nations, and let the world see that Uncle Sam is guilty of violating the human rights of 22 million AfroAmericans.” He also believed that this was a violation of human rights, rights that were given by God and wanted the oppressor’s held accountable of human rights violation. Malcolm X described the corrupt government to persuade and entice the black