The Ballot Or The Bullet Analysis

In 1964, the Civil Rights Acts ended segregation in American society. Although it appeared to be a step forward in american history at first, an eventual realization lead to prove the opposite. Black people remained victims of discrimination, political oppression, social degradation, and economic exploitation for decades after the act was passed. This blatant inequality and injustice was evidence of the prejudice against Black individuals from the government and people of authority. Malcolm X was a human rights activist, who articulated concepts of racial pride and black nationalism in the early 1960s. Malcolm X delivered the speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” in which he endorsed ethnic, economic and social impartiality as essential to achieve

Poverty and deprivation were common within the Black community as the government did not offer them good jobs nor profit them in anyway. Malcolm X stated that after elections, the government employed a few Black individuals big jobs to make it seem like they cared however, they already had jobs and chose to not offer them to those living in poverty. According to Malcolm X, everyone in the room, despite having jobs was still not able to make enough money for their necessities. Only if everybody's cash was accumulated would it appear like there was a large amount of money. Consequently, it continued to keep the Whites superior to Blacks. Thus, this truly suggested that the lower class, for this situation Black individuals, regardless of working hard constantly yet scarcely making money while the white man lived fine and dandy, was a clear issue of classism. Malcolm X emphasized that Blacks were "trapped" in a monetary system and mentality that did not benefit them. He exposed the fact that some of the Black politicians were corrupt in their ways and puppets of the Whites. They got paid to lure Black individuals into voting using trickery and treachery. Malcolm proposed the concept of economic philosophy, which meant that the Black community needed to start controlling their own economy. The speech contended that not only did Black people need to develop businesses, it was necessary to do so in order to make them successful. Black individuals owning their own businesses in the neighborhood would allow them to employ other Black people that were in need of jobs. This meant that ultimately the Black community would not have to rely on the