Civil Rights Speech Analysis

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The civil rights movement was a historic struggle for freedom from discrimination that sparked a major change for America and its citizens, something that brought us to the liberated Nation we are today. Key figures in this time period influenced the African American population to fight for their constitutional rights; however, this once civil, non-violent protest soon transformed into a more forceful rebellion in which African Americans sought to obtain power and demanded equal treatment through “black power”. This controversial shift in the civil rights movement towards the end of the 1960’s consisted of “black nationalism” leading to the formation of the black panthers; burnt out African Americans started following the wise teachings of …show more content…

He challenged the current civil rights movement and the nonviolent approach of integration and remained convinced that racism had corroded American spirit leaving blacks to only free themselves. Malcolm was “going to love these [white]folk no matter how much they hated me[him]” (D4: Malcolm X). Malcolm 's view point in this speech is loving the enemy. At this point in time many people were struggling with retaliation, so his purpose was to relive this. He wants his own nation and in order to achieve this he doesn 't want revolution. Yet, Malcolm 's view point slightly shifted as he encouraged his audience to take pride in their African heritage and to consider armed self-defense rather than relying solely on non-violence. In 1964 he spoke about his beliefs in equal treatment, he doesn 't believe in the brotherhood with a white man, someone who treats him with discourtesy (D11: Malcolm X). Malcolm 's influenced many African Americans and with that shaped change within the government through awareness being raised. His words led to new legislation, something that resulted from the shift as a whole. In 1965 the voting rights bill was passed, a bill that was “the latest and among the most important, in a long series of victories” (D:6 LBJ). Later, LBJ issued Executive Order 11246, which enforced affirmative action toward minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. Malcolm X’s powerful speeches helped result in the passing of these critical