In their writings on the civil rights movements of the 1960s, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King make quite divergent arguments as to how to combat racial injustice. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King espouses the ideals of civil disobedience in his impassioned rebuke of those who criticize his methods by touting the virtues of nonviolent resistance to unjust laws. Conversely, Malcolm X, in his text The Ballot or the Bullet, takes a more radical stance by arguing that African-Americans ought to defend themselves from violence proportionally and that -- since a political conspiracy exists against the African-American population -- they should lobby the United Nations under the pretenses of human rights in order to dismantle the segregationist system. While Martin Luther King makes a sober and cogent case, Malcolm X’s arguments are impractical and undeveloped.
Malcolm X starts his speech by saying that all people of color should put their differences aside and focus on their shared problem of oppression. This strategy is most likely to appeal to the most people as possible by giving them a common uniting factor. Malcolm X then speaks of the need to either gain power through politics or brute force and emphasis the fact that it is a political year, increasing the urgency of dealing with the issue of segregation. He further emphasises the importance of his point by speaking of the power the African American population has because of the political division of the white Americans. Malcolm X advocates these strong messages but does not say that there necessarily needs to be violence, but rather reciprocal behavior, meaning treating nonviolence with nonviolence and violence with violence.
King does not believe in using violence to fight violence and uses ethos to appeal to the audience: "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly" (King 65). This is similar to the saying that two wrongs don 't make a right. King is acknowledging that being violent to respond to violence is only going to cause more chaos which in terms is not right; he is thinking about consequence. Malcolm X 's speech is fueled with anger and rage. He cautiously avoids directly encouraging his audience to be violent but makes statements like: "I don '
Civil Rights “are government guarantees of equality for people in the United States with regard to judicial proceedings, the exercise of political rights, treatment by public officials, and access to enjoyment of the benefits of government programs.” One of the wildest pretexts to that statement is that, truthfully, the only American citizens that were being looked after were land-owning white males. It is only through time, and compromising intellectual growth, that our democratic republic has been able to accept and integrate the many subgroups that’s place in our society is lawfully deserved. The concept stands for everyone and in our nation’s history almost every group (i.e. minorities, women, the elderly and disabled, gays and lesbians)
Introduction: Malcom X urges the Negro community to fight to gain the equal rights they deserve by taking action against their white oppressors. He emphasizes that blacks will gain their rights either thorough voting, with the ballot, or else through the inevitable violence with the bullet. Thesis [part a] Like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., also fighting for the civil rights of black Americans in the 1960s, but in a more peaceful manner, Malcom X takes a different approach.
On April 3 of 1964, Malcolm X, a distinguished civil rights activist, delivered a speech that is still admired today because of its influence and ingenuity. “The Ballot or the Bullet.” The speech focused on encouraging African-Americans to vote wisely for a new candidate in the upcoming election. He urged the people to rise up and oppose the corrupt government. The speech warned, that if one would
African american rights were the main concern of many people, along with government corruption and the unwillingness to help. Malcolm X was no banal man he was a extravagant civil rights speaker, he showed the truth on how coming together can put the end to African American indifference. Due to the lack of government the dichotomy between african americans and the white men was still a major problem ; as African americans needed to put and end to the separation and earn civil rights. Malcolm speaks out to all who are willing to obtain their civil rights. ”In Ballot or Bullet” Malcolm X uses Anaphora, Antithesis, Ethical Appeal, Word choice, and Rhetorical question to show the lack of support from government and how coming together can help fight back.
On April 3rd, 1964, civil rights leader Malcolm X delivered a famous speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Malcolm X advocated his famous speech aiming toward African Americans implying their right to vote, and serving the right to bare arms if inequality acted upon them. Americans were captured by Malcolm’s speech but saw him as a threat to his words for action. Malcolm was able to tribute both his hardships and reflected accomplishments in his fight for racial justice as an African American religious leader who also taught the value of self-reliance and pride as a civil rights activist. While bringing emotion and pride to his audience, Malcolm uses the rhetorical modes of analysis, syntax, and
Malcolm X and his ideals are arguably a representation of the transition from the early 1950 's non-violent movement for integration to a more aggressive black power movement. Evidence of this is shown through powerful strands of his novel “The Ballot or the Bullet” including when he writes, “I don 't mean go out and get violent, but at the same time you should never be non-violent unless you run into some non-violence.” (Malcolm 439). In writing that members of the civil rights movement should never be non-violent he does so facetiously. This excerpt indicates a call for violence as a more powerful method for achieving the equality he feels they deserve.
Statement of Purpose In light of recent events and social media uproar, the goal of this argumentative paper is to provide a brief but comprehensive understanding to the concept of the black lives matter movement and slogan. The movement is an affirmation of Black people’s contributions to society, humanity, and their resilience in the face of oppression. (“About,” n.d.) As a result, this paper will critically examine the foundation of the movement and the validity of both sides of the argument and the media’s involvement and several other topics.
I think If Martin Luther King Jr. were to reappear today he would definitely note that in the almost 50 years since his death, there has been progress with race relations in America, but we still have a long way to go. He wanted the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners to “be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood” (Simon, 2016) and that brotherhood “will be able to work together” and to “stand up for freedom together.” I think he would have helped out with the Black Lives Matter movement, but he would have also made more of an effort to include a greater percentage of other races in the movement and in the conversations that need to happen about injustice, racism, and discrimination in todays society. “About four-in-ten
Black Lives Matter picks up where The Civil Rights Movement and the The Black Panther Party left off. There are inherent differences between them that come with a change of times but it seems as though some of the key aspects from the 1960s were lost somewhere in translation. The Black Lives Matter movement draws many parallels with the Black Panther Party but to understand each as a separate movement, it’s more effective to point out their differences. With the advent of social media, information is available instantaneously. Although this is a privilege for movements today it’s not being used to the best of its ability.
(Mamiya 1). He spread the idea that only a violent revolution would bring change and equality for black Americans. “You don't have a peaceful revolution. You don't have a turn-the-cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution,” he said (“Malcolm X Biography” 1).
During this time period white supremacists tried to put an end to the civil rights movement through crimes such as murder that frequently went unpunished. In the interview Malcom X stresses the importance of vigorous self defense, “That in areas of this country where the government has proven its--either its inability or its unwillingness to protect the lives and property of our people, then it’s only fair to expect us to do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves,” (Malcolm X). In this interview, Malcolm X has a very serious tone, and it is clear that he is devoted to his work in activism. Malcolm X is urging people with his tone to protect themselves. Racial discrimination towards African Americans is prevalent and Blacks should protect themselves no matter what.
The title of the article I chose to address is titled “The rise of Black Lives Matter: Trying to break the cycle of violence and silence”. This article extend beyond the idea of Black Lives Matter and wants the reader to be informed on what it is like to be black in america. The author includes a wide amount of information to help the reader understand why this cry for help was even created and why they want to stand up and make a change in our society. The purpose of this piece is to inform the general audience as to what Black Lives Matter really is and explain how they hope to rise as a movement. All though there may be issues within the group and outside forces that are wanting to go against them they will still not be silenced.
