Analysis Of Malcolm X: God's Judgment Of White America

Malcolm X was an Islamic African American rights activist who propagated the ideas of black supremacy, segregation between white and black people, and general rebellion against white governments throughout America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Malcolm X was born a Christian, his father being a Baptist minister, however converted to Islam, joining the Nation of Islam (NOI), a religious movement, in the year of 1952. He rapidly gained prominence in the organization and became the national spokesman for the group. It was in the year of 1963 when he created the speech “God’s Judgment of White America,” which advocated the different ideals and ideas that he and his organization represented. There were a few recurring aspects that he used throughout

Hyperbole and alliteration are prime examples of figurative devices used by Malcolm X to enhance his emotive language. “God himself must first destroy this evil Western world, the white world…. a wicked world, ruled by a race of devils”. Repeated use of “w” at the beginning of words creates alliteration, which acts as an intensifier for what is being signified. In addition to the use of alliteration in the sentence, hyperbole was also apparent in this sentence by the use of the words “evil”, “wicked” and, in particularly, “devils” when referring to the western world and the white race. However, as clarified before, the western world was merely a synonym for the white race, meaning that the words “evil” and “wicked” also referred to white people. In addition to alliterations and hyperboles, metaphors were literally used throughout the entire speech. In fact, the speech itself was an extended metaphor referring back to religious scripture. He used this extended metaphor to positively portray the black community while negatively portraying the white community. This is seen when Malcolm compared the black people to Moses, a savior, while comparing white people to the Egyptian slave masters. The reason for these extended metaphors is again this principle of positively portraying the black community while negatively

Malcolm often used a type of ethos known as religious ethos, which uses the authority of God and religion to strengthen arguments and causes. While preaching the sins of America and the white race, he mentioned God’s plan of vengeance and presented the question “Who will present God’s plan to white America?” In this phrase not only was a rhetorical question used in order to elicit thought on the matter, but he also presented the question in the context of God. He made it appear as if God himself was bestowing the task of vengeance on “white America” upon the black and, specifically, black-Muslim community, which had the effect of creating a portrayal of divine duty that they, the black community, must carry out. He further added on to the religious ethos and, in effect their sense of divine duty, by relating the black race to that of a group mentioned in religious scripture. “Twenty-two million “Negroes” who are referred to in the symbolism of the Scriptures as the Lost Sheep, the Lost Tribes, or the Lost People of God”. By referencing their devout lineage as the “Lost People of God,” he continued to add on to their duty to carry out “God’s vengeance,” thus supporting two of Malcolm’s main goals of rebellion and segregation. The use of the phrase “the Lost Tribes” is especially effective considering that the ancestry of