malcolm x analysis essay

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Home » “The Ballot or the Bullet”: Malcolm X’s Ultimatum for America

“The Ballot or the Bullet”: Malcolm X’s Ultimatum for America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLQLUpNGsc

On April 12, 1964, civil rights leader Malcolm X delivered a speech to an audience of about 2,000 at King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan (“Malcolm X | The Ballot or the Bullet”). 1964 was an election year; Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson was running for re-election against Republican candidate Barry Goldwater. In his address, Malcolm strived to enlighten his listeners on the importance of political education, consciousness, and maturity so that African-Americans would not only know who to cast their vote for, but also gain awareness of the power of their vote in influencing election results. This political independence was a central aspect of the philosophy of Black nationalism, which Malcolm avidly supported, along with separatism. His beliefs contrasted with the views of other civil rights activists at the time such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Milton Galamison, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., all of whom were proponents of integration, and all of whom he mentioned in the beginning of his speech (Warren).

The title of Malcolm X’s speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet,” suggests an ultimatum between voting or violence, an attempt by the speaker to convince the audience that one action or the other is absolutely necessary depending on the actions of the enemy – in this case, the U.S. government. Before this ultimatum could ever be proposed however, Malcolm faced the challenge in this speech of establishing a fundamental commonality with his audience. As one of the most prominent members of the Nation of Islam (an African-American religious movement, abbreviated as NOI) and an avid proponent of both separatism and Black nationalism, Malcolm X defined his identity in contrast to members of the Black community who identified as Christian and/or favored non-violent resistance and racial integration like the followers of Martin Luther King Jr. In March 1964 (a month before giving this speech), Malcolm publicly announced his split from the NOI, leaving his religious status in question (“Timeline of Malcolm X’s Life”).

…he is not speaking to the audience as a Muslim; he is coming to the audience as a fighter.

Instead of ignoring this obvious religious divide between himself and many of his listeners, Malcolm addresses it in the very beginning of his speech, stating plainly and clearly that he remains a Muslim, but that more importantly he is not speaking to the audience as a Muslim; he is coming to the audience as a fighter. By minimizing the importance of their difference in religious beliefs and placing a towering emphasis on the struggles they share together as members of the Black community, Malcolm effectively seeks to unify his audience while using the second-person tense to directly rally them to his cause.

Using that same tactic, Malcolm goes on to unify ideologies regarding the American North and South, making powerful appeals to pathos and utilizing the ethos built atop the foundation of his earlier remarks to erase the division between them (that ethos being his credibility as someone who shares his listeners’ struggles despite their differences in religious beliefs). In grouping the North and South together, he seeks to obliterate the audience’s pre-established common view that Northern politicians were allies of the Black community while Southern politicians were their enemies. Instead, Malcolm X argues that the North and South are both one entity (the U.S. government), and that the Black community, as one, must fight for justice using either the ballot or the bullet.

“I’m still a Muslim.” Direct, clear, unabashed and unashamed, Malcolm delivers this first line of his speech to his audience at King Solomon Baptist Church.  This lays the foundation for the ethos he invents throughout his speech, signaling to his listeners that he is someone who will speak the truth about himself no matter the social difficulty, and indirectly signaling that he will do the same for all other matters. He then goes on to draw connections to Christian ministers who have also become active in the struggle for civil rights, stating that these ministers do not enter the civil rights movement as ministers, but as fighters. In his list of Christian ministers, he includes Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Milton Galamison, and, most notably, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man whose philosophies of integration and non-violent resistance greatly differed from his own, and an activist with whom Malcolm publicly disagreed (“Malcolm X”).

By foregrounding the civil rights activism of these Christian ministers and placing himself in the same sphere (“I’m a Muslim minister – the same as they are Christian ministers”), he further breaks down the religious divide between himself and his audience, aiming to extend the audience’s trust in their ministers to now include him as well. To finally eliminate any uncertainty regarding Malcolm’s identity in this rhetorical situation, he states plainly that discussing religion would only divide them, and that religion should be kept “at home…in the closet” so that they may join to fight against a common enemy.

…this speech is as much a discussion between himself and them as it is a lesson from teacher to student.

With the bedrock of his ethos laid, Malcolm then wastes no time in using pronouns such as “we” and “you” (i.e., the second person) when addressing his listeners. The use of “we” throughout the speech has the function of not just solidifying his place as one of the audience, but solidifying the audience’s place as his equal as well. In doing so, Malcolm includes his listeners in his dialogue; even though he is talking to and teaching them, this speech is as much a discussion between himself and them as it is a lesson from teacher to student. Indeed the audio recording, full of applause, laughter, and exclamation in response to Malcolm’s words, certainly suggests that the audience members feel like they are partaking in an equal discussion as well, as opposed to being lectured or talked down to.

The use of the second person pronoun “you” serves to place agency directly into the hands of Malcolm’s audience, squarely into the lap of the Black community. Instead of using the passive voice to describe the injustices done to the Black community (e.g., “We were failed by the government” or “You were tricked by the white man”), Malcolm employs the active voice (“The government has failed us” and “he tricked you”). In assigning full agency to both the Black community and the U.S. government/white people, Malcolm does not expand on the suffering that the Black community has experienced, and he does not try to appeal to pathos based on a reality that his audience is already well-aware of.

A contrasting example of this strategy is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 “I Have A Dream” speech, where King begins his speech with powerful metaphors of oppression and segregation drawn from the Black experience under slavery and Jim Crow laws:

But one hundred years later, the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

King also says the following lines:

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your…quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi…to Alabama…to South Carolina…to Georgia…to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

In the first passage, King expands on the suffering of “the Negro,” notably not using the second-person. Instead of making direct, agency-assigning statements (e.g., “The U.S. government has manacled the Negro with the chains of segregation and discrimination” or “The white man has ensured that the Negro remains on an island of poverty while he swims in a vast ocean of material prosperity”), King utilizes extended metaphors and references to the U.S. Constitution and The Declaration of Independence to imply that the U.S. government is to blame for the situation of Black America.

In the third paragraph of his speech, King utilizes an extended metaphor of cashing a check to describe the injustice African-Americans faced, stating that the U.S.’s founders signed a “promissory note,” this “note” being the U.S. Constitution and The Declaration of Independence. King went on to state that this note was to guarantee certain unalienable rights to all Americans, but that “America has given the Negro people a bad check.” This metaphor implies that the U.S. government has wronged the Black community, but it lacks the focus on individual politicians that Malcolm X often employs in his speech. King does briefly mention that Alabama’s governor at the time (Democrat George Wallace) had his lips “dripping with the words of ‘interposition’ and ‘nullification’,” but he does not mention Mr. Wallace by name. This omission of specific entities and the choice not to directly accuse white America of wrongdoing was a strategic move to unify King’s listeners regardless of their race, and to align them with his own belief that integration and nonviolent resistance were the solutions to Black America’s civil rights issues.

Here, King appeals to the conscience of white America….

Malcolm, on the other hand, states clearly and directly in his speech who is responsible for the situation of Black America, embracing the possibility of inciting feelings of indignation, injustice, and the desire for separation from white America in his audience (the latter feeling being the primary difference from the feelings incited by King’s speech).  Another interesting example of the philosophical differences between King and Malcolm is that, at the end of his “promissory note” metaphor, King states that “we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” Here, King appeals to the conscience of white America by not only invoking the sacred founding documents, but also stating with conviction that, despite the horrific tortures and trauma that African-Americans have experienced in the U.S., he refuses to believe that white America and the U.S. government cannot be made to deliver on that long overdue justice. Malcolm, however, expresses a sharply contrasting view of white America’s conscience. In the version of “The Ballot or the Bullet” given in Cleveland, Ohio on April 3, 1964, he states the following: “America’s conscience is bankrupt. She lost all conscience a long time ago. Uncle Sam has no conscience…So you’re wasting your time appealing to the conscience of a bankrupt man like Uncle Sam” (X, The Ballot or the Bullet) [1] . While King’s statement shows his belief in both the existence of white America’s conscience and the possibility of appealing to it (arguably a necessary prerequisite to believing in the viability of integration and nonviolent resistance), Malcolm makes no such assumptions.

[Malcolm] chooses to laser-focus on what African-Americans can do to ameliorate their situation.

After Malcolm directly states in his speech who is responsible for the situation of Black America, he chooses to laser-focus on what African-Americans can do to ameliorate their situation. This serves to shift the audience’s mindset from one of contemplation or self-pity to one of direct action, further aligning them with Malcolm’s own mindset. In the second quoted passage from King’s speech, King shifts to the second person to directly address those who have suffered in the quest for civil rights, and with that direct address, he urges them to go home with the knowledge that “somehow” the situation of black American s “can and will be changed.” This passage comes after King urges nonviolent resistance earlier in the speech, serving not only to acknowledge the suffering of these individuals, but also to urge them to focus on continuing their work, as opposed to seeking retribution or violence. The entirety of Malcolm’s speech, on the other hand, is dedicated to the minutiae of the “somehow” that King mentions, and Malcolm’s rhetorical decision to give his audience direct agency serves to empower them with the knowledge and drive to turn that “somehow” into a clear and powerful some way.

It should be noted that Malcolm dedicates one paragraph to acknowledging the suffering of the Black community, but this is done purposely to contrast the ideals of the American dream with the true experience of Black America. Here, Malcolm says the following:

You and I have never seen democracy; all we’ve seen is hypocrisy… we see America not through the eyes of someone who has enjoyed the fruits of Americanism, we see America through the eyes of someone who has been the victim of Americanism. We don’t see any American dream; we’ve experienced only the American nightmare. We haven’t benefited from America’s democracy; we’ve only suffered from America’s hypocrisy.

This passage serves as a segue into convincing his audience to break their affiliation with mainstream U.S. political parties and even indirectly suggesting that they separate themselves from the idea that they are Americans.

To that end, Malcolm makes strong appeals to the values of independence – political, economic, and social.

While using the second-person to place agency firmly into the hands of his audience was effective, Malcolm also needed to convince his listeners to do something with that agency. To that end, Malcolm makes strong appeals to the values of independence – political, economic, and social. In Malcolm’s own words, the “political philosophy of Black Nationalism means only that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community.” Given that 1964 was an election year, Malcolm heavily emphasized the importance of African-Americans understanding not only the politics of their communities, but also “what politics is supposed to produce,” proposing a political re-education program that would teach Black Americans how to cast their ballots for candidates with the “good of the community at heart.” The economic philosophy of Black nationalism was simply that Black Americans should open, own, operate, and patronize stores in their own communities, as opposed to spending their money with “The Man.” Malcolm explained that African-Americans should focus on opening small stores and developing them into larger operations, using Woolworth (a large retail chain company) and General Motors (a multinational vehicle manufacturer) as examples of wildly successful ventures that had started out as small operations.

As for the social philosophy of Black nationalism, Malcolm heavily advocated for African-Americans to separate from the white community. While Malcolm does imply in his speech that integration is not the solution to African-Americans’ civil rights issues (“…you don’t have a revolution in which you are begging the system of exploitation to integrate you into it.”), he utilizes the majority of his address to create unity amongst his listeners by not focusing on the ongoing civil rights debate of separation vs. integration [2] . He even goes on to state that the division experienced in Black communities is another strategy of the “white man”, and that he “keeps us divided in order to conquer us. He tells you I’m for separation and you for integration to keep us fighting with each other. No, I’m not for separation and you’re not for integration. What you and I is for is freedom.” Framing division as a tool of oppression against the Black community, and emphasizing again Malcolm’s shared goal of freedom with his audience served as an effective attempt to further unify Malcolm’s listeners.

Malcolm also appeals to the value of freedom using history from both the U.S. and around the world to convince his audience to take action.

In addition to making appeals to the value of independence, Malcolm also appeals to the value of freedom using history from both the U.S. and around the world to convince his audience to take action. He makes reference to countries in Africa and Asia that have gained their independence using the philosophy of nationalism, stating that “brown, red, and yellow people in Africa and Asia are getting their independence. They’re not getting it by singing ‘We Shall Overcome.’ No, they’re getting it through nationalism.” In mentioning the highly successful efforts of nations around the world (28 countries gained independence from Europe between 1960 and 1964 in Africa alone), Malcolm presents their victories as proof that Black America can also be victorious by employing Black nationalism (Boddy-Evans). Even more poignantly, he then reminds the audience of America’s own genesis, of thirteen “scrawny” colonies who stood against the might of the British Empire, and of Patrick Henry who demanded either “liberty or death.”

In doing so, Malcolm offers a more potent example of victory against seemingly insurmountable odds, and more importantly, a victory won by the same “enemy” that has oppressed African-Americans for over 400 years. He weaves the idea of using the enemy’s tactics to gain independence from said enemy throughout his speech, expanding on the “white man’s” economic and political habits. Economically, Malcolm says that the “white man is too intelligent to let someone else come and gain control of his community,” scolding the audience for not doing the same and establishing good business practices in their own communities. Politically, he argues that the Black vote has a great deal of power (shown by the fact that it won John F. Kennedy multiple states in the 1960 election [3] ), but that the Black community continues to be misled by the Democrats and their false promises (“Campaign of 1960”). While Malcolm does not explicitly state what promises were not kept, he was likely referring to the fact that the administration at the time had failed to pass any significant civil rights legislation. It wasn’t until June of 1963, two years after he had been elected, that John F. Kennedy proposed civil rights legislation that would address issues such as voting rights and desegregation. The result of Kennedy’s proposal, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was not signed until July 2, 1964 by Lyndon B. Johnson, approximately three months after Malcolm delivered this speech (“The Civil Rights Act of 1964”).

Fully aware of the Black community’s widespread loyalty to the Democratic party, Malcolm then undertakes the task of convincing his audience that the Democrats (associated with the North) and the “Dixiecrats” (a term for some Southern Democrats, known for supporting segregation and opposing civil rights) are actually part of one entity, one enemy—the U.S. government. He develops his argument by expanding on a simple fact: the majority of the government is controlled by Democrats, and yet none of the legislative promises made to the Black community during the previous election year have been kept. “The Democrats have been in Washington, D.C. only because of the Negro vote. They’ve been down there four years, and all other legislation they wanted to bring up they brought it up and gotten it out of the way, and now they bring up you… You put them first and they put you last.” This use of logos is further extended by listing the number of seats in the House of Representatives and in the Senate that belong to each party, and then the number of senatorial and congressional committees headed by segregationists (the majority of both houses of Congress were Democrats, but the majority of committees were headed by southern segregationists).

If Malcolm X’s appeals to logos are the vehicle of his argument however, then his use of pathos is the rocket fuel that propels it.

If Malcolm X’s appeals to logos are the vehicle of his argument however, then his use of pathos is the rocket fuel that propels it. After claiming that the majority of Congressional committees are headed by segregationists, Malcolm asks, “And they’re going to tell you and me that the South lost the war?” This witty, poignant mention of the Civil War was met with laughter and applause by the audience, but it also fulfilled the purpose of showing them that the South was not only undefeated, but controlling the very party they had believed to be their ally.

In another passage, Malcolm establishes Democratic, Texas-born president Lyndon B. Johnson as the head of the Democrats and thus, in Malcolm’s view, head of the Dixiecrats, using the deeply evocative mention of lynching to say that the only difference between being lynched in Texas and being lynched in Mississippi is “in Texas they lynch you with a Texas accent; in Mississippi they lynch you with a Mississippi accent.” This powerful appeal to pathos served to further hammer away the barrier between North and South (or more specifically Northern and Southern Democrats), arguing that a Dixiecrat is a Democrat is a Democrat , and that they are all guilty of transgressions against Black America. In another notable appeal to pathos that functions to evoke indignation or anger (the kind that then evokes self-reflection and then hopefully change), Malcolm states that voting for a Democrat as an African-American is equivalent to being a “political chump” and “a traitor to your race.”

Despite the blunt harshness of his words, or rather because of them, Malcolm takes care not to lose his hard-earned ethos throughout his speech, that inclusive “we” that he’s comfortably settled into with the audience. To this end, Malcolm briefly changes his style of speaking, most memorably in two passages in the middle of the speech. In these two notable style shifts, Malcolm re-establishes himself as a friend to the audience after a controversial statement. After declaring that Democrats and “Dixiecrats” are one and the same, Malcolm says, “Oh, I say you been misled. You been had. You been took.” By using African American Vernacular English (AAVE), a dialect of English spoken by many Black Americans, Malcolm X achieves multiple purposes. For one, he further builds ethos with the audience by speaking in a way that is familiar to them, in a dialect that is (mostly) exclusive to the Black community, indirectly reminding his audience of his credibility. Secondly, this is a humorous move to close whatever distance his previous remarks may have put between him and the audience (and a successful one at that since the audience erupted into laughter and applause at the statement).

“I’m going to tell you the truth whether you like it or not.”

In another notable shift only a paragraph after his humorous “you been had” line,  Malcolm uses the first person to say “I’m going to tell you the truth whether you like it or not” (again regarding the Black vote essentially keeping the “Dixiecrats” in power). The pronoun “I” is only utilized about 29 times in the entire speech (exclusive of the phrase ‘you and I’, which appears 11 times), and of those times they appear mostly in the introduction and conclusion when he is stating or reiterating his ideological stances, and in the body of the essay when narrating a personal experience. Malcolm’s use of “I” here serves to remind the audience that he is fully aware of their well-established views regarding support for the Democratic party, and that his claim that voting for any Democrat is the same as voting for a Dixiecrat may bedifficult for them to believe (or rather a claim that they may not want to believe). This brief show of sympathy, reminiscent of a parent sympathizing with a stubborn child, again serves to reaffirm his bond with the audience but, through pathos, also evokes a feeling of trustworthiness, the sense that he is telling the audience this for their own good.

As stated at the beginning of this essay, the title of Malcolm X’s speech suggests that an ultimatum will be made, that a case will be presented showing why a choice of either the ballot or the bullet is absolutely necessary. In this regard, Malcolm X’s rhetorical strategy falls short in that there is not as much expansion on the “bullet” portion of the ultimatum as there is the “ballot.” In the middle of the speech, Malcolm briefly indicates that Black America has become fed up with the “white man’s” lies and trickery, likening their boiling frustrations to an atomic bomb threatening to explode. Towards the end of the speech, Malcolm dedicates only three short paragraphs to themes of war and violence. Within those paragraphs is the proposal that America can be the first country in history to have a revolution with no bloodshed (though he stresses that all revolutions, even ones in Hollywood, are historically bloody), and references to peasants and farmers in Korea, French Indochina, and Algeria armed with nothing but blades who had defeated armies with tanks and rifles in the quest to gain their freedom. In particular, Malcolm mentions the battle of Dien Bien Phu, an engagement in which the French army lost a garrison of around fourteen thousand men, and that resulted in both the Geneva Accords of July 1954 and the end of the French presence in Indochina (Onion et al., “Battle of Dien Bien Phu.”). If Malcolm had dedicated more rhetorical space to convincing his audience of the need for violence, then the choice between voting rights or revolution would seem more inevitable (as opposed to a choice between voting rights and non-violent protest or general unrest).

In addition, if the audience is to choose “the ballot,” it is not entirely clear who they should cast their ballot for . Early in the speech, Malcolm states that adopting Black nationalism involves a political reeducation program, after which the Black community will be politically mature and conscious enough to cast their ballot “for a man of the community, who has the good of the community at heart.” Malcolm did a thoroughly effective job of establishing his claim that Democrats are certainly not that man, so the question remains: who should they vote for? Perhaps a third-party or Independent candidate who, despite being someone with the good of the community at heart, likely would not win against the much more influential Democratic or Republican parties? Or if there are no suitable candidates, should a ballot not be cast at all, and if so, would that then demand use of the bullet?

…perhaps he (consciously or not) did not want to push his people towards violence when there was an equally viable, non-violent solution.

As for the lack of expansion on the “bullet” portion of his speech, it is entirely likely that Malcolm’s uneven partition of attention towards violence was purposeful. Just as he did not want to draw focus to Black suffering, perhaps he (consciously or not) did not want to push his people towards violence when there was an equally viable, non-violent solution. Indeed, Malcolm’s philosophy regarding separation from white people began to shift during the last year of his life. After a holy pilgrimage (“hajj”) to the city of Mecca, a trip during which Malcolm encountered Muslims of all different colors and ranks, he began to adopt a far more inclusive view of different races, an expansion of his definition of “we.” In a letter written to a friend on April 25 (only thirteen days after delivering his “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech), Malcolm discussed his hajj and said that he felt no racial antagonism towards white people for the first time in his life: “I have never before witnessed such sincere hospitality and the practise of true brotherhood as I have seen and experienced during this pilgrimage here in Arabia. In fact, what I have seen and experienced on this pilgrimage has forced me to ‘rearrange’ much of my own thought pattern, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions.” (“Malcolm X Pleased By Whites’ Attitude On Trip to Mecca”).

Tragically, Malcolm was assassinated less than a year later on February 21, 1965. Though the world would never see realized the endless potential he possessed, the spirit of Malcolm’s words and the deep love he had for his people lived on in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a movement that emphasized “racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions” (“Black Power”). The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP), founded in October 1966 during this movement in the wake of Malcolm’s assassination, was the era’s “most influential militant black power organization” (“The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change”). The foundation of the BPP was the Ten Point Platform and Program created by BPP founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. While all ten points existed in harmony with Malcolm X’s philosophies (or at least not in direct contradiction), none resonated with them more so than Point #1: “We want freedom. We want power to determine the destiny of our Black Community.”

Malcolm’s burgeoning ideals of inclusivity also resonate in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, an organization which began in 2013 and believes in an “inclusive and spacious movement” (“About.”). Ilyasah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter, stated in a 2021 interview that Malcolm might have been struck by the diversity of the members in the 2020 protests which swept across the U.S. in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd (Hatzipanagos and Shabazz).

Even though Malcolm’s ideologies had only just begun to evolve before his death, his message, legacy, and impact had already extended far beyond the Black community. This is perhaps conveyed most effectively by lifelong Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama, who shared a brief but formative friendship with Malcolm in the year before his death (Wang). In a concluding statement for an interview conducted in May of 1972, Kochiyama said the following about Malcolm:

Malcolm’s life and what he did with it, rising from the muck of enforced poverty to international recognition, is primarily a message to his own people – black people in America, Africa, and the diaspora. But the significance of his feat in transforming his life, makes him relevant to all humanity. His life is truly a lesson to prove that one can transcend adversity, hate, and lies. Through struggle, he became the symbol of fearlessness against powerful enemies, of commitment to fight racism in this society, and a motivator to seek truth.

Kochiyama went on to offer the following insight into who Malcolm was as a person:

Malcolm, as a private individual, was as admirable as he was a political figure, leader, and teacher. He was a loving and caring husband and father. He exuded love for humanity and for the ordinary people on the street; the children and the elderly; but most of all for the most rejected, degraded, and ghettoized. He was unpretentious, sincere, genuine, and humble. After he returned from Mecca with the title El Hajj Malik Shabazz, his followers asked him, “What shall we call you now?” He responded, “What did you call me before?” They said, “Brother Malcolm.” He answered, “Yes, just Brother Malcolm.”

Malcolm X’s life was a stunning example of perseverance, fearlessness, compassion, and the most fervent dedication to truth and growth, both his own and his people’s. He refused to stagnate in the comfort that comes with familiarity, leaving the Nation of Islam when he determined that he could no longer further his own goals within it (Pilgrim), and changing his long-held notions about race and inclusivity upon his hajj to Mecca. Malcolm unknowingly stood, unyielding and unafraid, at the vanguard of the Black Power movement, blazing a path for future activists that stands followed and well-trodden even to this day. He was a man of his people, for his people, who had a fantastic love for reading and, above all, an extraordinary commitment to the fight for equality and freedom that will continue to awe and inspire for generations to come (X, “Learning to Read”).

Malcolm X, March 26, 1964 (photo from Library of Congress by Marion S. Trikosko). Malcolm’s daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, said the following about her father: “If injustice didn’t exist, my father would likely be in a library reading lots and lots of books. He loved nature. We grew up with his butterfly collection. We grew up with his poetry that he would write to my mother or his reflection… His family was very important to him.”

Photo by Marion S. Trikosko (Library of Congress). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (left) and Malcolm X smiled and shook hands during their first and only meeting in Washington D.C. on March 26, 1964. Although their beliefs greatly differed at the time of their meeting, Malcolm’s ideologies would begin to evolve towards the end of his life, a shift that potentially could have culminated in collaborative work with Dr. King.

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Onion, Amanda, et al. “Stokely Carmichael.” History.com , A&E Television Networks, 18 Dec. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/stokely-carmichael.

Pilgrim, David. “Malcolm X – Cloud of Witnesses – Jim Crow Museum.” Ferris State University, Jim Crow Museum , www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/witnesses/malcolm.htm .

Powell, Jr., Adam Clayton. Interview by Robert Penn Warren. Who Speaks for the Negro? Vanderbilt University, whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/adam-clayton-powell-jr. Accessed 17 July 2021.

Schapiro, Rich. “Malcolm X Smiling and Sitting on a Couch.” New York Daily News , Tribune Publishing, 15 Feb. 2015, www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/remembering-malcolm-x-50-years-article-1.2115740.

Services, Wire. “Martin Luther King Jr. Met Malcolm X Just Once, and the Photo Still Haunts Us with What Was Lost.” Dallas News, The Dallas Morning News , 24 Aug. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/2018/01/14/martin-luther-king-jr-met-malcolm-x-just-once-and-the-photo-still-haunts-us-with-what-was-lost/.

“The Black Panther Party: Challenging Police and Promoting Social Change.” National Museum of African American History and Culture , 23 Aug. 2020, nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change.

“The Civil Rights Act of 1964.” Miller Center , University of Virginia, 9 Jan. 2021, millercenter.org/the-presidency/educational-resources/the-civil-rights-act-of-1964.

“Timeline of Malcolm X’s Life.” PBS , Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/malcolmx-timeline-malcolm-xs-life/.

Wang, Hansi Lo. “Not Just A ‘Black Thing’: An Asian-American’s Bond With Malcolm X.” National Public Radio, , 19 Aug. 2013, www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/19/209258986/the-japanese-american-internee-who-met-malcolm-x.

X, Malcolm. “Learning to Read.” The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley , by Malcolm X and Alex Haley, Ballantine Books, 1992.

X, Malcolm. “The Ballot or the Bullet”, American Studies at the University of Virginia, xroads.virginia.edu/~public/civilrights/a0146.html.

[1] In 1967 while speaking in Stockholm, Sweden, U.S. civil rights activist Stokley Carmichael, who made famous the “Black Power” rallying slogan, said the following: “Dr. King’s policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none” (Olsson). While Carmichael adhered to the philosophy of nonviolent resistance early in his activism career (1960-1966), by May 1966, when he was elected national chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he had lost faith in the philosophy. On June 16, 1966, Carmichael gave an address in Greenwood, Mississippi in which he says, “We been saying ‘freedom’ for six years. What we are going to start saying now is ‘Black Power’” (Onion et al., “Stokely Carmichael.”).

[2] In the version of “The Ballot or the Bullet” given in Cleveland, Ohio on April 3, 1964, Malcolm expands more on the social philosophy of Black nationalism, defining it to mean that “we have to get together and remove the evils, the vices, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other evils that are destroying the moral fiber of our community… We ourselves have to lift the level of our community… so that we will be satisfied in our own social circles and won’t be running around here trying to knock our way into a social circle where we’re not wanted… [Black nationalism] is not designed to make the black man re-evaluate the white man… but to make the black man re-evaluate himself. Don’t change the white man’s mind — you can’t change his mind” (X, The Ballot or the Bullet). This call for social separation is a sharp contrast to the sense of unity that Malcolm began to experience towards white people near the end of his life.

[3] A few weeks before the 1960 election, King was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia while leading a protest. Then-Senator John Kennedy called Coretta Scott King, MLK’s wife, to express his concern, and his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, made phone calls to help hasten King’s release. After his release, King stated that he owed “a great debt of gratitude to Senator Kennedy and his family” (“Kennedy, John Fitzgerald”). King’s statements of gratitude, a public endorsement by Martin Luther King Sr. (MLK’s father), and Vice President Richard Nixon’s silence on King’s arrest all resulted in an outpouring of support for Kennedy in the Black community, and ultimately played a significant role in Kennedy’s election victory (Levingston, Steven; “Civil Rights Movement”).

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Aishah Jones

About the Author

Aishah Jones is an undergraduate who now finds herself part of the Class of 2023 after a three-year leave from MIT. Majoring in Computer Science & Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Music, Aishah hopes to graduate and find work in Northern Virginia, where she was born and raised. When she’s not working, Aishah enjoys playing the piano, practicing coding, attempting various crafts such as bookbinding and crocheting, and occasionally spending too much time playing video games (the Mass Effect trilogy is her current undertaking). For this essay assignment, Aishah chose to analyze “The Ballot or the Bullet” mainly out of a desire to learn more about Malcolm X. Over the course of researching and writing for this assignment, Aishah gained a deep appreciation for Malcolm’s message, struggle, and endless devotion to his cause. She hopes most of all that the reader will find wisdom in his words, inspiration in his actions, and gain that same appreciation for Malcolm’s tireless work and extraordinary life.

Subject: 21W.016

Assignment: Essay One Analysis of a Speech

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The Ballot or the Bullet

By malcolm x, the ballot or the bullet summary and analysis of the ballot or the bullet, part 1.

" The Ballot or the Bullet " opens by addressing the differences in religious beliefs that divide the African-American community. Malcolm X , a Muslim, credits Elijah Muhammed, the leader of the Nation of Islam, with making him into the man he is today. Malcolm X is the minister of Muslim Mosque Incorporated, just like Martin Luther King and Adam Clayton Powell are both Christian ministers. Though he holds different religious beliefs from King and Powell, all three men are united by their prodigious work as civil rights advocates. He declares that religion is a personal matter, not a political one. He is not here today to discuss his relationship with God, but to speak about black nationalism.

Malcolm X defines black nationalism as the philosophy that African-Americans “should control the politics and the politicians in (their) own community.” Economically, it means frequenting African-American owned and operated businesses, whose profit will feed back into the black community and strengthen it. He declares himself to be “a black nationalist freedom fighter.”

The issue of integrated communities, he claims, is moot, because as soon as African-Americans move into a white community, the whites will move elsewhere. As such, African-Americans must endeavor to educate themselves on which politicians will best serve the aims of the civil rights movement.

Being a black nationalist, Malcolm X says, does not require you to give up any of your personal organizational affiliations. You can subscribe to whichever religious beliefs you’d like, and remain a member of whichever civic organizations you’d like.

Malcolm X juxtaposes black nationalism with the non-violent philosophy of advocates like Martin Luther King Jr., who favor peaceful protest, which Malcolm denounces as passive. Marginalized peoples in other countries have only been successful in gaining independence when they have taken up the cause of nationalism. Second-class citizenship, such as is held by the African-American community, is tantamount to 20th-century slavery, says Malcolm.

According to Malcolm X, 1964 is the year of the ballot or the bullet not only because it is the year of what he considers a failed march on Washington, but because it is an election year, and because there is a new generation of African-Americans who are no longer willing to be subjugated.

The history of America is one of colonialism; Malcolm likens the colonists’ struggle against the British to that of African-Americans against white supremacy.

Malcolm X warns African-Americans against the white politicians that will come into their communities (for the first and last time, he suggests) and make false promises of equality. He explains that he does not subscribe to either the Democratic or the Republican party, because he considers himself “a victim of America’s so-called democracy.” For African-Americans, there is no American dream, only an American nightmare. It doesn’t matter, he says, if you go to jail, because black people are already there.

The African-American community has enormous political power, Malcolm X claims, if they vote as one. The white community is divided by its party affiliations, and as such, elections are often so close that there is cause for a recount. If the black community throws their support behind a single candidate, as they did behind Kennedy, that candidate will win.

At the start of "The Ballot or the Bullet," Malcolm X dispenses with the divisive issue of religion in favor of the common cause of civil rights. He likens his status as a Muslim to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s as a Christian, knowing that in the past, his own religious affiliation has been a point of contention; he and Dr. King may have different ways of worshipping, but they are both known as civil rights leaders. Religious differences, he worries, might hinder solidarity in the African-American community.

This downplaying of his religion reverberates in the context of a speech advocating for political engagement. The Nation of Islam, as led by Elijah Muhammed, forbade its members from participating in political processes. Earlier in the year, Malcolm X, once an outspoken follower of Elijah Muhammed, declared his separation from the Nation of Islam and realigned himself with the civil rights movement. In these opening paragraphs, Malcolm X calls for increased political participation and awareness in the black community. This marks a meaningful divide between Malcolm X’s ethos and the ethos of the Nation of Islam.

Malcolm provides an economic summary of black nationalism: African-Americans should buy from African-American owned and operated businesses so as to feed the prosperity of their own communities and “lift the level…to a higher level…so that we will be satisfied in our own circles and won’t be running around here to knock our way into a social circle where we’re not wanted.” This economic attitude is in keeping with the larger social and political attitudes of separatism that marked black nationalism, which claimed that integration would only result in further oppression of black peoples and advocated, as the name suggests, for entirely separate and self-governed communities.

In this first section of the speech, Malcolm relies on appealing to the pride of the African-American community, particularly through language centering on the emasculation of black peoples and the necessity of relying on brute force over peaceful protest. Relying on peaceful protests such as sit-ins “castrates” the black man, says Malcolm. Sit-ins are disempowering because they perpetuate the image of the African-American community as cowardly and weak. If gaming the political system doesn’t work, he recommends African-Americans turn to outright revolution. “Well, you and I been sitting long enough,” he claims, “and it’s time for us today to start doing some standing and some fighting to back that up.”

Malcolm X frequently uses provocative language to incite anger in his audience, as is evident in his accusation that the white man has “made a fool out of you.” Here, he is utilizing the rhetorical device of pathos, or appealing to the audience’s emotions, to his advantage. Insulting his listener is meant to stoke the listener’s sense of anger and injustice, and therefore to provoke him into more direct action against white supremacy than the peaceful protests advocated for by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are able to do.

Malcolm X invokes one American dream while condemning another. The white man didn’t know what he was doing when he let black children read about “liberty or death” in his history books, he says. Like the colonists, Malcolm X is ready to fight tooth and nail for the liberation of his community, whether that means using his vote advantageously or participating in outright revolution. George Washington and Patrick Henry didn’t win the American revolution, the soldiers did. So too will the black community win by force, and not by peaceful protest.

Meanwhile, the American dream of equal opportunity is not one that applies to African-Americans. The black man is not born free, he is “born in jail,” victim of structural oppression and to the hypocrisy of a government that claims to represent the interests of all Americans. Everything south of the Canadian border is the South, he jokes. In one of many clever turns of phrase, Malcolm employs both humor and repetition to rename the situation facing African-Americans as “an American nightmare.”

The Ballot or the Bullet Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Ballot or the Bullet is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

in "the Ballot or the Bullet" with Malcom X. what made the speaker qualified to give this speech.

Malcolm X wa the leading black figure in the American Civil Rights movement advocating for a stronger even violent response to White American apathy of black rights. "The Ballot or the Bullet," a famous civil rights speech delivered by Malcolm X...

Malcolm X religious beliefs had caused controversy within the Black community. How does he use his beliefs to persuade a mixed audience about the importance of voting to African Americans?

Summary of Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech.

Gradesaver has a complete summary of "The Ballot of the Bullet" speech readily available in its study guide for this unit.

Study Guide for The Ballot or the Bullet

The Ballot or the Bullet study guide contains a biography of Malcolm X, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Ballot or the Bullet
• The Ballot or the Bullet Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Ballot or the Bullet

The Ballot or the Bullet essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X.

• Malcolm X: His Voice in Poetry and Politics
• A Question of Appeal: Rhetorical Analysis of Malcolm X and MLK

Wikipedia Entries for The Ballot or the Bullet

• Introduction

May 19, 1925 to February 21, 1965

As the nation’s most visible proponent of  Black Nationalism , Malcolm X’s challenge to the multiracial, nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King, Jr., helped set the tone for the ideological and tactical conflicts that took place within the black freedom struggle of the 1960s. Given Malcolm X’s abrasive criticism of King and his advocacy of racial separatism, it is not surprising that King rejected the occasional overtures from one of his fiercest critics. However, after Malcolm’s assassination in 1965, King wrote to his widow, Betty Shabazz: “While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep affection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his finger on the existence and root of the problem” (King, 26 February 1965).

Malcolm Little was born to Louise and Earl Little in Omaha, Nebraska, on 19 May 1925. His father died when he was six years old—the victim, he believed, of a white racist group. Following his father’s death, Malcolm recalled, “Some kind of psychological deterioration hit our family circle and began to eat away our pride” (Malcolm X,  Autobiography , 14). By the end of the 1930s Malcolm’s mother had been institutionalized, and he became a ward of the court to be raised by white guardians in various reform schools and foster homes.

Malcolm joined the Nation of Islam (NOI) while serving a prison term in Massachusetts on burglary charges. Shortly after his release in 1952, he moved to Chicago and became a minister under Elijah Muhammad, abandoning his “slave name,” and becoming Malcolm X (Malcolm X, “We Are Rising”). By the late 1950s, Malcolm had become the NOI’s leading spokesman.

Although Malcolm rejected King’s message of  nonviolence , he respected King as a “fellow-leader of our people,” sending King NOI articles as early as 1957 and inviting him to participate in mass meetings throughout the early 1960s ( Papers  5:491 ). Although Malcolm was particularly interested that King hear Elijah Muhammad’s message, he also sought to create an open forum for black leaders to explore solutions to the “race problem” (Malcolm X, 31 July 1963). King never accepted Malcolm’s invitations, however, leaving communication with him to his secretary, Maude  Ballou .

Despite his repeated overtures to King, Malcolm did not refrain from criticizing him publicly. “The only revolution in which the goal is loving your enemy,” Malcolm told an audience in 1963, “is the Negro revolution … That’s no revolution” (Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots,” 9).

In the spring of 1964, Malcolm broke away from the NOI and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. When he returned he began following a course that paralleled King’s—combining religious leadership and political action. Although King told reporters that Malcolm’s separation from Elijah Muhammad “holds no particular significance to the present civil rights efforts,” he argued that if “tangible gains are not made soon all across the country, we must honestly face the prospect that some Negroes might be tempted to accept some oblique path [such] as that Malcolm X proposes” (King, 16 March 1964).

Ten days later, during the Senate debate on the  Civil Rights Act of 1964 , King and Malcolm met for the first and only time. After holding a press conference in the Capitol on the proceedings, King encountered Malcolm in the hallway. As King recalled in a 3 April letter, “At the end of the conference, he came and spoke to me, and I readily shook his hand.” King defended shaking the hand of an adversary by saying that “my position is that of kindness and reconciliation” (King, 3 April 1965).

Malcolm’s primary concern during the remainder of 1964 was to establish ties with the black activists he saw as more militant than King. He met with a number of workers from the  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee  (SNCC), including SNCC chairman John  Lewis  and Mississippi organizer Fannie Lou  Hamer . Malcolm saw his newly created Organization of African American Unity (OAAU) as a potential source of ideological guidance for the more militant veterans of the southern civil rights movement. At the same time, he looked to the southern struggle for inspiration in his effort to revitalize the Black Nationalist movement.

In January 1965, he revealed in an interview that the OAAU would “support fully and without compromise any action by any group that is designed to get meaningful immediate results” (Malcolm X,  Two Speeches , 31). Malcolm urged civil rights groups to unite, telling a gathering at a symposium sponsored by the  Congress of Racial Equality : “We want freedom now, but we’re not going to get it saying ‘We Shall Overcome.’ We've got to fight to overcome” (Malcolm X,  Malcolm X Speaks , 38).

In early 1965, while King was jailed in Selma, Alabama, Malcolm traveled to Selma, where he had a private meeting with Coretta Scott  King . “I didn’t come to Selma to make his job difficult,” he assured Coretta. “I really did come thinking that I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King” (Scott King, 256).

On 21 February 1965, just a few weeks after his visit to Selma, Malcolm X was assassinated. King called his murder a “great tragedy” and expressed his regret that it “occurred at a time when Malcolm X was … moving toward a greater understanding of the nonviolent movement” (King, 24 February 1965). He asserted that Malcolm’s murder deprived “the world of a potentially great leader” (King, “The Nightmare of Violence”). Malcolm’s death signaled the beginning of bitter battles involving proponents of the ideological alternatives the two men represented.

Maude L. Ballou to Malcolm X, 1 February 1957, in  Papers  4:117 .

Goldman, Death and Life of Malcolm X , 1973.

King, “The Nightmare of Violence,”  New York Amsterdam News , 13 March 1965.

King, Press conference on Malcolm X’s assassination, 24 February 1965,  MLKJP-GAMK .

King, Statement on Malcolm X’s break with Elijah Muhammad, 16 March 1964,  MCMLK-RWWL .

King to Abram Eisenman, 3 April 1964,  MLKJP-GAMK .

King to Shabazz, 26 February 1965,  MCMLK-RWWL .

(Scott) King,  My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. , 1969.

Malcolm X, Interview by Harry Ring over Station WBAI-FM in New York, in  Two Speeches by Malcolm X , 1965.

Malcolm X, “Message to the Grassroots,”  in Malcolm X Speaks , ed. George Breitman, 1965.

Malcolm X, “We Are Rising From the Dead Since We Heard Messenger Muhammad Speak,”  Pittsburgh Courier , 15 December 1956.

Malcolm X to King, 21 July 1960, in  Papers  5:491 .

Malcolm X to King, 31 July 1963, 

Malcolm X with Haley,  Autobiography of Malcolm X , 1965.

Historical Material

Maude L. Ballou to Malcolm X

From Malcolm X

Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Malcolm X — Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” Speech Rhetorical Criticism

Malcolm X’s "The Ballot Or The Bullet" Speech Rhetorical Criticism

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Published: Jan 29, 2024

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Table of contents

Contextual analysis, delivery and style.

• "Malcolm X." Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 26 May 2019, www.biography.com/activist/malcolm-x.
• "The Ballot or the Bullet." Malcolm X: A Research Site, www.brothermalcolm.net/speeches/malcolm-x-the-ballot-or-the-bullet.html.
• Carson, Clayborne. "The Civil Rights Movement." Stanford University, Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/civil-rights-movement.
• McWhorter, John. "The Power of Malcolm X's 'The Ballot or the Bullet' Speech." The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Apr. 2014, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/the-power-of-malcolm-xs-the-ballot-or-the-bullet-speech/360021/.

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Home Essay Samples Social Issues Malcolm X

Rhetorical Analysis of Malcolm X's Speech "Bullet or Ballot"

Table of contents

Rhetorical appeals in malcolm x's speech.

• Malcolm X. (1964, April 3). The Ballot or the Bullet. Retrieved from https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/mx.html
• Malcolm X. (1965, February 14). Not Just an American Problem, but a World Problem. Retrieved from https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/blackspeech/mx1.html
• Malcolm X. (1965, April 3). The Last Speeches. Retrieved from https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/lastmessage.html
• Baldwin, J. (1990). The Fire Next Time. Vintage.
• Epps, B. (1997). Malcolm X: The Persistence of an Image. Routledge.

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Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X» Essay

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Introduction

The paper will argue that the film “Malcolm X” is a fight against the demonization of an African American icon. In light of critics’ remarks in the book “The mistakes of Malcolm X”, the director went beyond propaganda and told the story of a society changer. It will argue that the prison scene in the movie was designed to illustrate the story of a man who freed himself from a self created prison.

In the prison, Malcolm Little and another black prisoner are reading a dictionary. Malcolm’s friend reads out the definition of black from the book; all definitions were synonymous to evil, dirt and wickedness. He also reads out the definition of white, which was synonymous to honesty, purity and fairness (Lee, 1992). In this instance, the signifier refers to the negative definitions of ‘black’ that are found in the white man’s dictionary.

The signified in this case is the oppression and inequality that those words represent in the eyes of the protagonist as well as members of the black race. When Malcolm’s prison mate reads those definitions, the ideas shock Malcolm. He explains that the ideas come from a white man’s dictionary. It is at this point that Malcolm X realizes that knowledge was one of the greatest tools that white men used to control and dominate society.

The dictionary definitions assisted Malcolm in his self consciousness because he now knew that not all written material was accurate. His colleague points out that society gives out propaganda, and it is one’s responsibility to look beyond that propaganda in order to get to the truth. Critics assert that Malcolm X read too much into the racial-domination ideology (Lavelle, 2011). They believe that he looked for trouble even where it did not exist.

However, I disagree with this viewpoint because Malcolm’s analytical approach to literature reflected how social structures worked. It is necessary to look beyond certain objects and words in order to understand the intrinsic meaning behind those words. Malcolm was simply analyzing a society that treated black people as second class citizens. He was trying to get to the root of the problem through this analysis.

Malcolm X spoke to white and black audiences alike; however, his message was designed for the poor black people. He was deeply suspicious of the white man even after taking a long trip to Mecca. Furthermore, he was a radical. He made demands concerning black people’s separation from the white population. He believed in a violent propaganda that demanded equality by any means necessary.

Malcolm asserted that one should only be non violent to people that are non violent. Therefore, physical violence was a weapon that Malcolm endorsed. In this regard, the revolutionary message that Malcolm preached scared white Americans deeply. This was an individual who made sense, yet he preached hate. He was a powerful orator that the white citizens did not know how to handle. In essence, one can understand why Malcolm X’s image was quite negative.

The director needed to counter his demonization by portraying an individual that audiences could relate to. Through the journey of self enlightenment that the director highlights in the prison scene, it is possible to understand where Malcolm’s notions of racial oppression came from.

This means that non-black audiences can then identify with his ideas. The scene was crucial in bringing out the sociological ideologies that dominant classes used in order to protect their positions; literature was one such avenue. The dictionary was designed in such a way that it did not recognise the rights and opinions of black people who were not all ‘wicked’ or ‘evil’.

These words brought out the fundamental struggles that people in that society had to confront in their daily lives. These dictionary definitions were designed to give film consumers a better grasp of the black man’s struggles, and thus minimize chances of racial stereotyping.

The dictionary may also be perceived in another way in this film. When in prison, Malcolm X was ashamed about his lack of literacy skills. He could barely express himself in prose (Lee, 1992). Furthermore, he became envious of other prison mates who had a great command of the English language.

Having realized that his only path to liberation was his own literacy, Malcolm decided to learn how to read and write. The dictionary became his greatest companion because he would write out all the words on a page; including the punctuation marks. As he practiced this, his vocabulary kept improving.

When his command of the language increased, Malcolm became a book fanatic. The dictionary can also be seen as a signifier in this case. Critics, on the other hand, would explain that the dictionary represents someone who took responsibility for his actions (Lavelle, 2011). Such critics assert that many minorities failed to take responsibility for their own lives.

I disagree with this viewpoint because it does not recognize the importance of social and economic constructions in Malcolm’s society. ‘The signified’ refers to the journey of self discovery and emancipation. The dictionary was Malcolm’s tool out of the entrapment that others felt in the prison.

In fact, Malcolm explains that when he learnt how to read, he finally felt free. This dictionary signified the protagonists’ ability to become self made. He did not accept his circumstances passively; Malcolm knew that he was disadvantaged, and his only way out was through an education. The dictionary came to represent liberation.

He chose to curve out a different path for himself. He would never have become the great leader that society recognizes today if he never took the time to teach himself the English language. In this regard, I disagree with the critics because the dictionary shows the drive and determination of the protagonist.

Other non black races did not have to make that choice. Teachers, parents and other individuals could always teach white children how to read and write. They did not have to struggle or fight the same battles that Malcolm fought, because they were already liberated. The dictionary was symptomatic of this journey.

Economically damaged people can identify with these struggles because a number of them still confront similar challenges to Malcolm’s. Some of them may not know how to read and write so self expression is indeed a great mystery. The dictionary can represent the same thing that it represented to Malcolm in their views.

As Malcolm X started to improve his vocabulary, he also started to learn about the idea of the Nation of Islam, as taught by Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm interpreted books about history in a different light. He started looking at the depictions of great men and women in the past from a different lens.

At the time, he believed that there was a whitening process at play that undermined black people’s accomplishments. In this regard, one may interpret the history books as an instrument of white propaganda. Critics assert that Malcolm’s reading of these books was tainted by the unfounded philosophies of the Nation of Islam (Lavelle, 2011). However, I disagree with this viewpoint because, true to Malcolm’s assertions, there was no mention of blacks in the history books. Malcolm found that explanation through the use of racial discourses.

As this paper has demonstrated, the film was a fight against the demonization of Malcolm X in relation to critic’s attempts to downplay his accomplishments. Through the library scene, it is possible to see how self enlightenment, self consciousness and liberation were realised through this protagonist’s efforts.

Lavelle, D. (2011). The many mistakes of Malcolm X . NY: AMZ

Malcolm X . 1992 [DVD] Spike Lee USA: Largo International

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IvyPanda. (2019, April 30). Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X». https://ivypanda.com/essays/malcolm-x-essay/

"Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X»." IvyPanda , 30 Apr. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/malcolm-x-essay/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X»'. 30 April.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X»." April 30, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/malcolm-x-essay/.

1. IvyPanda . "Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X»." April 30, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/malcolm-x-essay/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Fight Against the Demonization in «Malcolm X»." April 30, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/malcolm-x-essay/.

Malcolm X: Height and Presence

This essay is about Malcolm X and highlights both his physical height of approximately 6 feet 3 inches and his towering presence in the civil rights movement. It explores his early life challenges his rise as a powerful orator and spokesperson for the Nation of Islam and his later transformation after leaving the organization. The essay underscores how Malcolm X’s influence extended beyond his physical stature through his eloquence intellect and unwavering commitment to justice. It also touches on his enduring legacy his capacity for personal growth and his impact on subsequent generations of activists and scholars.

How it works

Malcolm X a towering figure in American history stood tall at about 6 feet 3 inches. But his influence went far beyond his impressive height—it was his powerful voice sharp mind and fierce dedication to justice that made him such a monumental figure in the civil rights movement.

Born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha Nebraska Malcolm X faced tough challenges from the start. His father’s suspicious death and his mother’s institutionalization thrust him into a turbulent childhood. Despite facing racism and hardship Malcolm’s intelligence shone through though systemic barriers blocked his early dreams.

These early struggles deeply shaped his views on race and fueled his later activism.

Malcolm’s physical stature matched his strong speaking skills and commanding presence. As a spokesperson for the Nation of Islam in the 1950s and 1960s he used his voice to challenge injustice and fight for Black rights. His speeches were fiery and compelling rallying people to stand up against racism and embrace self-respect and empowerment. His height and presence could be intimidating to opponents but were empowering to his followers.

A pivotal moment in Malcolm X’s life came in 1964 when he left the Nation of Islam and went on a spiritual journey to Mecca. There he had a profound awakening to Sunni Islam and a broader vision of unity across racial lines. This transformation showcased his openness to change and growth solidifying his legacy as a leader willing to evolve for the greater good.

Malcolm X’s impact continues to resonate today. His autobiography co-written with Alex Haley remains a classic in American literature offering insights into race identity and resistance. His ideas and speeches inspire activists and scholars alike reminding us of the ongoing fight for justice.

His height symbolizes more than just physical stature—it represents his moral strength and unwavering principles. Malcolm X stood tall against injustice fearlessly challenging oppressive systems and speaking truth to power.

In sum while Malcolm X’s height was impressive it’s his enduring influence and commitment to justice that truly define his legacy. His journey from Malcolm Little to Malcolm X and beyond embodies the power of self-discovery and the quest for equality. He remains an inspiration reminding us of the impact one person can have in shaping a better world.

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Malcolm X: Height and Presence. (2024, Jul 06). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/

"Malcolm X: Height and Presence." PapersOwl.com , 6 Jul 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Malcolm X: Height and Presence . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/ [Accessed: 9 Jul. 2024]

"Malcolm X: Height and Presence." PapersOwl.com, Jul 06, 2024. Accessed July 9, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/

"Malcolm X: Height and Presence," PapersOwl.com , 06-Jul-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/. [Accessed: 9-Jul-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Malcolm X: Height and Presence . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/malcolm-x-height-and-presence/ [Accessed: 9-Jul-2024]

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