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Who Is Malcolm X's Speech Appeal In The Ballot Or The Bullet

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Imagine living in a world of segregation - constantly judged by color of one’s skin and not being permitted to associate with the “superior” race. From slavery to discrimination, African-Americans experienced this horror in daily life since the beginning of their existence. Due to the fear of severe punishment, blacks were scared to fight for equality; however, on April 3, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio, one brave soul finally did. His name was Malcolm Little (known as Malcolm X), a widely acknowledged human rights activist. Although he supported black equality, he attacked the problem unlike others such as Martin Luther King Jr. did. Instead of promoting peace to solve problems, Malcolm X used violence when necessary to get his points across to his audience. Little’s speech has a significant lack of logic; although, it is a clever move to predominantly use emotional appeal due to his motive - to incite anger in America and to showcase the government's faults. Through repetition of inflammatory phrases and accusatory diction both which create appeals to anger, Malcolm X effectively persuades his audience during “The Ballot Or The Bullet.” Throughout his speech, Malcolm X repeats incendiary phrases in order to kindle vexation in his audience. This tactic encourages his listeners to stand up for themselves now that they can see the issue at hand. In …show more content…

The objective of this speech was to expose the flaws of the government to the nation and to promote equality for all. Little’s demand for justice (along with other infamous human rights activists) was heard and the civil rights movement was put into action. Due to this influential speech and many others with the same goal, all Americans, no matter how diverse, are all equal and deserve the same rights as anyone

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The Ballot or the Bullet is a speech delivered by Malcolm X in 1964. The main aim of the speech is to urge African Americans to vote, and if they do not attain equality through voting, they can use violence to fight for their rights. The speech is among the top persuasive speeches of the 20th century. It was very influential speech that empowered the black people to fight against the domination of the white man. Malcolm X used the speech to advocate for racial, social and economic justice for all individuals.

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Malcom X is able to capture his audience by using three rhetorical strategies: an appeal to ethos through his humbleness, logistically exploiting the flaws of his opposition, and an appeal to pathos and emotion. Malcolm X gave his The Ballot or the Bullet speech on April 3, 1964 at a meeting sponsored by the Cleveland, Ohio, chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality during a period when “race” dominated America’s domestic agenda. At that time, a bill that outlawed segregation

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Malcolm X’s speech was an effective example of pathetic because he understands the mindset that the audience is in, and knows what to say to excite them about his cause. He used ethos, pathos, and logos to gain the audience's trust and appeal to them both emotionally and logically, in order to inspire them to fight back. He constantly used repetition of the words "the ballot or the bullet" in order to keep the thought present in the head of the audience, and after completing every thought, he found a way to connect it back to the issue of the ballot or the bullet. The speech was strong and inspiring, and because it was combined with his confident and sturdy speaking, he came off as a respectable and intelligent leader who knows what he wants

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In Spike Lee’s movie Do The Right Thing, the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X are presented throughout the movie. The constant presence of the character Smiley with a photo of the leaders portrays the importance that these two figures’ ideas have in the movie. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King, Jr., and the speech “The Ballot or the Bullet,” by Malcolm X, help us elucidate the events that happen during a hot day in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The scene of Mookie throwing the trashcan enacting the destruction of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria applies to both King and X’s ideas.

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Malcolm X was seen as one of the most proficiency civil rights activists of the 1960s. One speech in particular, the Ballot or the Bullet, was a very highly esteemed and influential one. It was 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 a civil rights activist as well; Malcolm X, however, was tyrannical and advocated the use of violence. During this era, the democrats who were in control of the  Senate and the House of Representatives, were leaning towards providing more civil rights to African Americans.

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Two of the most influential civil rights activists who fought for the rights and equality of African Americans were Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. both had different views on whether or not violence or non violence was the key to gaining equality for blacks. They very much differed on the question of violence because as Malcolm was for it King was against it. King believed in a nonviolent approach to end segregation, and knew that white segregationist would eventually act on behalf of his nonviolent acts because the issue couldn’t be ignored forever. Malcolm, on the other hand, believed violence was the only way to get segregationist to act. Though Malcolm never used violence, Malcolm knew that by threatening the white man the white man would then react to the threat.

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Malcolm X became one the most crucial world wide speaker for the Black Muslims. His debating abilities against white and black rivals helped spread the organization's message. He uses his strong and violent talks to remind black people that they should not be following the white man’s footsteps because they were already abandoned by the white man and that they should not be discouraged by them. He believes that black people are blinded by the supremacy of the white man and that they (Africans) believe that the color white is greater or higher than the color black. Malcolm X is a prominent figure in history.

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Unfortunately, the Vietnam War wasn’t the only concern for Martin Luther King Jr. at that time period. “Black radicals increasingly turned away from the Gandhian precepts of King toward the Black Nationalism of Malcolm X, whose posthumously published autobiography and speeches reached large audiences after his assassination in February 1965.” Malcolm X was able to challenge King’s nonviolent approach by emphasizing the idea of combating white aggression by any means that were necessary in order to defend the black community. He argued that Martin Luther King’s approach would not help the black people to defend from unhuman attacks of whites and that his approach postpones the solution to problems of black community. It was an American approach in history to get on that shady path of violence and King knew it perfectly, so he was “unpersuaded by black nationalist calls for racial uplift and institutional development in black communities.”

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Malcolm X began his speech by analyzing his audience and declaring that it is time to decide whether to vote

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In his debate with James Baldwin, Malcom X explains why African Americans should use a forceful approach to achieve equality in America, and why he doesn’t agree with the sit in movement. He claims that if we use nonviolent protest, we are waiting for equality instead of demanding it. Then he goes on to describe the hope of integration has made African Americans soft and “disabled” them to stand up and fight. He also uses history, describing moments like Pearl Harbor, when whites were attacked and didn’t turn the other cheek, so he asks why should black people. Malcolm X sees that the African Americans should stand as one and fight oppression instead of waiting for it to happen.

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Malcolm X was a black nationalist leader, who was very passionate in leading the fight against discrimination. His troubled childhood, along with the time period he grew up in, gave him the experience of dealing with racism and fabricated him into the great activist he was. In his speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” Malcolm preaches about how black people were suffering from social, economic, and political oppression at the hands of white people and how he wants black people to break from this oppression. Throughout the speech he conveys that fact that all people should be equal no matter what and how he is furious with the actions of white people. Likewise, he makes the audience believe that they need to establish equality, even if it is by

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Plan – Assess Malcolm X’s significance in advancing the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1965 Intro When it comes to addressing the importance of Malcolm X in the civil rights movement from 1955 to 1965; we need to look at both the significance of his actions and their short term and long term impacts. As well as evaluating his impact we need to make comparisons to other major figures and events at the same time so we can make a relative conclusion of Malcolm’s overall impact. I will also be contrasting some of the key figure heads, events movements and leaders of this time period for the civil rights and their relative effectiveness in forwarding the civil rights movement for African-Americans. I will discuss Malcolm and his actions in

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Many leaders from within the African American community and beyond rose to prominence during the Civil Rights era, including Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Andrew Goodman and others. They risked—and sometimes lost—their lives in the name of freedom and equality (“Civil Rights Movement”). On April 3, 1964, Malcolm X delivered his speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” in regards to black nationalism during the current election year. “At the time, blacks did not have much say in who they wanted to elect. The white politicians would come into black neighborhoods and push press, and force it upon blacks to put them in office,” (“A Rhetorical Analysis of "The Ballot or the Bullet"​ speech by Malcolm X”).

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