Ballot or Bullet Debate

We recently read Malcolm X's famous speech The Ballot or the Bullet, which proved to incite a variety of reactions with regards to it's effectiveness. Some thought he was unclear as to what he was proposing and therefore made it nominal in affecting a change to the situation. Others thought he was trying to give the people momentum to move forward and not necessarily call for one particular form of action. In my mind, his demands were very clear. He wanted equality and wasn't going to stand for anything less. The fact that he doesn't present a clear road map that explains how this will happen is irrelevant to me. I believe his speech was very affective with regard to the ultimate goal of achieving equal rights for African Americans.

The way he does this is by changing the context of the situation. Instead of regular citizens, he wants the African American population to view themselves as victims. He wants them to see that they are not like the rest of the American people. He even states, because of the lack of equality, he does not view himself as an American. X also wants people to view the White man in power as the oppressor that only fools people with a false sense of progress. By changing to this view of the situation, rather than seeing African Americans as regular citizens and the white man in power as someone trying to help them, a form of change is more feasible, because it does not make sense for an oppressed people to have to accept the actions of their oppressor. They don't have to get along. They need to fight it.

This speech is addressed to both the White man in power and the oppressed African American. To each group X puts out a warning. Malcolm X tries to motivate a sense of dissatisfaction with the current situation and an urge for change to the African American population. He starts this by stating that regardless of outside differences, Africans should stand together and in doing so, they will be stronger. In his speech X states: "I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem...". X moves on to encourage African Americans to open their eyes and see their situation for what it really is and not be fooled by false notions of "progress". "So it's time in 1964 to wake up," says X. He warns them: it is not that time is running out-- it is that time has already run out. With this rhetoric, X is trying to make people see that they are being fooled and at the same time wants them to do something about it. He warns them that if they want freedom, then they need to acknowledge this. Many examples throughout his speech demonstrate that he wants to change African Americans' view of themselves.

 He warns the white man in power by stating: "And if the white man doesn't want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us," telling them that in order to avoid resistance, they need to meet the demands of the African Americans. X attempted to make it clear that he was not going to negotiate with the White man in power. This would completely defeat the purpose of resistance. If the White man in power was finally recognized as the oppressor that he is, then and only then, will change ensue. X wants the White man to know that the Blacks are clearly not on his side and they are fed up.

I think this speech was greatly affective in working towards the goal of equality by trying to change the context of the situation, or rather, giving a new self-view to the African American population and a new perception of the White man in power. I'm not commenting on the idea of the use of violence, but merely the rhetoric X uses to incite change and I found it very operative in the fight towards equality.

Sources for pictures:

http://funnypicturesplus.com/malcolm-x-hating-the-oppressed-loving-the-oppressors.html

http://corischumacher.com/category/history/