The Ballot or the Bullet as one of the Most Influential Speeches - Research Paper Example

Primary Analysis of The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X The public speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet" is one of the most influential speeches made in the twentieth century. It was made by human rights activist Malcolm X on April 3, 1964, at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. This speech is significant in American history in many ways because of the new dimensions it provided to the efforts of African Americans in achieving equality in social life. Malcolm was the leader of a Black Nationalist religious organization called Nation of Islam, for a decade before delivering this speech. However, he was not in favor of some of the controversial policies adopted by Nation of Islam. Nation of Islam was an organization which tried to establish a separate state for African American Muslims and therefore it opposed many of the policies of the civil rights movement1. The intentions of civil rights movement were not for breaking the country, but for regaining the civil rights of the oppressed African American community. Malcolm was attracted by the ideologies of the leaders of civil right movement and he separated himself from Nation of Islam, before delivering his famous speech "The Ballot or the Bullet". Even though he supported Black Nationalism in principle, he never advocated the argument for a separate state for Muslim African American people. He always believed that it is better to fight for justice without sacrificing the interests of America as a country. In other words, he never advocated the efforts to destabilize America even though his community struggled to achieve equality in American social life. At the same time many people believe that Malcolm was actually trying to prepare black community for a bloody war with the dominant white community with the help of this speech. In their opinion, even though he appeared to be distanced himself from the constraints of religion, his actual intentions were mysterious. He tried to ridicule the activities of some of the former black and white Christian leaders like Martin Luther King, Clayton Powell, and Reverend Galamison, Billy Graham etc. Moreover, he asked his community to use their voting rights judiciously and take weapons for self-defense purpose. This paper analyses whether the dimensions of the public speech "The Ballot or the Bullet" made by Malcolm X, were culturally/communally motivated or socially motivated. “Although Im still a Muslim, Im not here tonight to discuss my religion. Im not here to try and change your religion” (Malcolm). Malcolm has realised the importance of achieving unity among African Americans, in order to fight against discriminations. African Americans consist of people from different religions such as Muslims, Christians etc. Because of the differences in religious beliefs internal conflicts within African American community were severe at that time. American governments exploited these conflicts and differences among the black population cleverly in order to defeat their struggles and the efforts of freedom and equality. Malcolm started his speech, by mentioning these conflicts in a direct manner and stressed the importance of keeping religious beliefs away for the success of their efforts to get freedom and equality. “X told the audience that he was not there to talk about the Muslim faith or make any connection between the civil rights movement and his religion” (Drakdrium, p.3). At the same time it should be noted that he tried to ridicule both black and White Christian leaders like Martin Luther King, Clayton Powell, Reverend Galamison, Billy Graham etc. “I have watched how Billy Graham comes into a city, spreading what he calls the gospel of Christ, which is only white nationalism. Thats what he is. Billy Graham is a white nationalist” (Malcolm). Here, the intentions of Malcolm are quiet unclear. It is not clear why he has brought Billy Graham into the picture. Many people believe that his intention was to ridicule the Christian community and its teachings. It should be noted that during his speech, many times he tried to argue that he is not against white community; however, the above words will definitely develop doubts about his secular credentials. At the same time, he tried to prove that greater cooperation among blacks and whites is possible up to a great extent. “Now in speaking like this, it doesnt mean that were anti-white, but it does mean were anti-exploitation, were anti-degradation, were anti-oppression” (Malcolm). Malcolm not only tried to achieve unity among fighting blacks, but also tried to remove some of the concerns of the white population. He has pointed out that the black agitations are not against a particular community, but against certain discrepancies in the society. He clearly underlined the importance of increased cooperation between black and white community citing the examples of dialogues between Kennedy and Khrushchev. In other words, he argued that if the democratic leader Kennedy and communist leader Khrushchev can increase their cooperation, there is no point in believing that a black-white cooperation is impossible. Blacks and whites have more common elements than democracy and communism have and therefore the cooperation between blacks and whites are much easier than the cooperation between democracy and communism. He has mentioned the names of Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Galamison and Adam Clayton Powell as examples of leaders who successfully fought against different types of injustices, without seeking any help from their religion. “Malcolm X built credibility, or ethos, in this speech by mentioning the names Martin Luther King, Adam Clayton Powell, and Reverend Galamison” (Shaw, p.3). For Malcolm, the role of religion should be accepted only in spiritual life. Religions have nothing to do with other streams of human life. Spirituality is only one aspect among so many other aspects through which human life continues. The blending of spirituality with social life or politics is extremely dangerous according to Malcolm. “X talks about Christians, Muslims, and all other types of religions working together and putting aside their differences to fight for their rights. This was an attempt to unify the audience and it was successful in that respect” (Drakdrium, p.3). At the same time, he criticized former black leaders Martin Luther King, Clayton Powell, and Reverend Galamison for their failure to achieve social justice in America. It should be noted that most of the former black leaders were from Christian religion and Malcolm’s criticisms were directed towards them. In his opinion, earlier black struggles failed to meet its objectives because of the lack of visionary leadership and their principles and policies. In his opinion nonviolence is a principle which is good in principle, but it may not yield the desired results. “How can you thank a man for giving you whats already yours? How then can you thank him for giving you only part of whats already yours?” (Malcolm). “Malcolm X created the persona of an angry black man, critical of mainstream civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Malcolm X rejected the doctrine of nonviolence and the Christian tradition that inspired King”(Rollyson). In short, Malcolm has begun his speech with a mentioning about religion, in order to persuade both Christians and Muslims equally to accept his stands and opinions. However, as the speech progressed, his anti-white and anti-Christian stands came out more visibly. On one side he tried to uphold his secular credentials and on the other side, he tried to ridicule Christian leaders both from black and white communities. “1964 threatens to be the most explosive year America has ever witnessed. Its a political year. Its the year when all of the white politicians will be back in the so-called Negro community jiving you and me for some votes” (Malcolm). Malcolm tried to ridicule the attitude of white community for using black community only for political purposes. Elections were the only time during which the white community approached black community with exaggerated offers and promises. However, they never tried to keep their words or promises and Malcolm asked the black community to exercise their votes judiciously rather than giving opportunity to the white candidates to cheat them. “He wanted to inspire the audience to rely on themselves rather than politicians in Washington and the corruption that the white government had shown them” (Drakdrium, p.3). “In this present administration they have in the House of Representatives 257 Democrats to only 177 Republicans. They control two-thirds of the House vote. Why cant they pass something that will help you and me?” (Malcolm). According to Shaw(2007) “Malcolm X uses logic, or logos, to argue that the American government was not doing enough to create civil right equalities” (Shaw, p.2). Democrats always blame republicans for their conservative thoughts and opinions; however when it comes to the cases of giving equality to the black community, both democrats and republicans are unique in their opinion. In other words, much of the promises and the principles of democrats remain on papers alone and in practice, they do nothing to substantiate their political philosophies or principles. Its time now for you and me to become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for; what were supposed to get when we cast a ballot; and that if we dont cast a ballot, its going to end up in a situation where were going to have to cast a bullet (Malcolm). Both democrats and republicans were playing every card to deny voting rights to the black community which forced Malcolm to describe the year 1964 as a ballot or bullet year. “Im not a politician, not even a student of politics; in fact, Im not a student of much of anything. Im not a Democrat. Im not a Republican, and I dont even consider myself an American” (Malcolm). Malcolm indirectly point outs that most of the black community in America are not getting the rights of other Americans and therefore it is difficult for them to consider themselves as Americans. He also reminded the black community that most of the so called Americans are immigrants from other parts of the world; however, Africans never got the right to become true Americans simply because of their black skin. He has compared the life of blacks in America with a person who claims to be a diner with an empty plate. He has argued that taking birth in America alone may not guarantee a person with American citizenship according to the situations prevailing in America at that time. Even though he separated himself from Nation of Islam because of its argument for a separate Muslim state for blacks, he never diluted his aggressive stands against Christians or whites. Moreover, it was difficult for him to accept the ideologies of moderate civil right leaders, to lead their struggle using means of nonviolence. He asked the black people to take weapons if the government deny them the opportunity to cast their votes with the help of foul play. Malcolm told the audience that black community is facing government conspiracy for preventing them from casting their votes in a fair manner. Malcolm pointed out that all the previous efforts for justice were failed because of the drawbacks of the previous policies put forwarded by leaders in the past. He pointed out the necessity of a new policy in achieving the rights of black community and put forward the principle of Black Nationalism. The political philosophy of Black Nationalism is being taught in the Christian church. Its being taught in the NAACP. Its being taught in CORE meetings. Its being taught in SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee meetings. Its being taught in Muslim meetings (Malcolm). It should be noted that Malcolm used the word, Black Nationalism instead of Muslim nationalism, in order to gather support from all the black people irrespective of their religion. He has pointed that Black Nationalism is a philosophy of the black community rather than the philosophy of black Muslims or black Christians. It aims to achieve control over the economic activities inside black community. Black people forced to distance themselves from all the economic activities even within their community at that time. The above social, political and economic injustices forced Malcolm to ask his community to take weapons in unavoidable circumstances. It should be noted that none of the former black Christian leaders asked their people to take weapon under any circumstances. This is because of their belief in Christian doctrines of nonviolence. On the other hand, Islam has no problem in taking weapons when its religious beliefs and social rights are under threat. It should be noted that the 9/11 World trade centre attacks and 26/11 Mumbai attacks were occurred because of the above belief. It is easy to understand the opinions of Malcolm based on the above incidents. Only thing that Ive ever said is that in areas where the government has proven itself either unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of Negroes, its time for Negroes to defend themselves. Article number two of the constitutional amendments provides you and me the right to own a rifle or a shotgun (Malcolm). Another major point emphasized by Malcolm during his speech was the right of Negros for self-defence. He argued that the constitution provides right to every citizen to own a rifle and use it for self-defence purpose. In other words, self-defence is a basic right for every American citizen and it should not be segregated based on skin colour. If the lives of the whites are important, the lives of the blacks are also important. To conclude, the true meanings of the speech The Ballot or the Bullet are difficult to understand. Malcolm X tried to create a secular image for him among the black community. At the same time he spent lot of time to criticize some of the prominent Christian leaders from both black and white communities. Moreover, he upheld the Muslim doctrine of using weapons for self-defence purpose and rejected the Christian doctrine of nonviolence. In short, most of the theories put forward by Malcolm during this speech had more religious dimensions than social dimensions. Works Cited Drakdrium. “Critical Analysis: The Ballot or The Bullet”. 2010. Web. 04 August 2011. Malcolm X. “The Ballot or the Bullet”. April 3, 1964. Web. 04 August 2011. Rollyson, Carl. “Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” Speech”. Web. 04 August 2011. Shaw, Rebecca. “Rhetorical Analysis of Malcolm X’s Ballot or the Bullet Speech”. 2007. Web. 04 August 2011. Read More