Malcolm X is regarded as a powerful speaker and a voice of great influence in the fight for black rights. In his speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet” presented in Cleveland and Detroit, he calls for political, social and economic action to take place in the year of 1964 for black nationalists. His speech clearly shows his writing and public speaking skills as he incorporates and effectively uses rhetorical structure; logos and dramatic metaphor, to project his purpose to the audience. He speaks with intensity and often makes controversial statements, grabbing the attention of his audience. In “The Ballot or the Bullet”, Malcolm uses these devices to provide support for his claims that action needs to be taken for black rights in the coming year, either through political and economic action or with strength and self-defense. He also gives his black audience a call to action, emphasizing the injustices against blacks in America and a need to take action in the coming year for black rights.
Malcolm X’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” is seen as one of Malcolm’s most influential speeches. In 1964, Malcolm had separated from the Nation of Islam (NOI) and its leader. His break from some of the radical beliefs of the NOI is reflected in this speech, attempting to portray himself in a more moderate light, while at the same time supporting black nationalism and self-defense. In his speech, he is able to show the relationship between blacks and whites in a different and enlightening way.
This “Ballot or the Bullet” speech was one of many of his speeches that made many white Americans feel that he was a threatening and controversial figure. However, while his speech can be seen as promoting black power more than it does integration, it neither glorifies blacks nor whites, but instead is an overall encouragement for blacks to take action to create their own social, economic and political independence out from under the white society of America.
Malcolm begins his speech by asking the audience the question of what is to come next in their fight for civil rights, which he answers throughout his oration. To begin explaining his point, Malcolm admits to the audience that he does not consider himself an American. He says that there would be nothing to fight for if he or the black audience were “Americans”. In explaining this to the audience, Malcolm uses metaphor explaining that being black in America is like sitting at table, watching “you” eat with nothing on his own plate. Malcolm says that he will not call this a dinner because sitting doesn’t make you a dinner unless you get to eat; therefore, he refuses to call himself an American because blacks in America are not given the same rights as everyone else in the U.S. In making this statement, Malcolm is advising blacks to be socially aware of who they are in America and encouraging them to be outraged along with him about how the “American” lifestyle is offered to everyone except minorities/blacks.
Instead of placing his identity in Americanism, Malcolm places his identity with the black victims in America. To drive his point home, Malcolm claims that rather than the American dream, he sees an American nightmare for blacks. He urges his audience to bring civil rights to a higher level—the level of human rights. In his following argument, he offers a new outlook on the future of black nationalism using logical appeal. Malcolm states that as long as you treat the issue as a civil rights struggle, your rights remain within domestic jurisdiction of the country. Since minorities in the U.S. at the time did not have a way to challenge or speak to the domestic affairs of the U.S., they weren’t easily able to have a say in what happens to them.
Malcolm next mentions that the UN deals with violations of human rights across the world, yet he highlights that they’ve done nothing to mend the problem of racism in the U.S. Malcolm continues his argument, using a dramatic metaphor of the American mascot-like figure of ‘Uncle Sam’ for white American society and government. He warns blacks that civil rights are the equivalent of being kept in Uncle Sam’s pocket. Malcolm wants blacks to recognize this great injustice that is being committed against them. He calls for the exposing of the injustices of American society against blacks, calling blacks into action to let the world know what is happening to blacks in America. He says that the world needs to know of this injustice because taking the issue solely to American court is like “taking it to the criminal who’s responsible”. This point, along with others in the speech were new outlooks on the fight for black rights. Malcolm famously addresses the crowd, stating that the world needs to know that change will come in the form of either, what he calls, the ‘ballot or the bullet’.
Malcolm equivalents the ballot, or this previously described form of political change, to freedom for blacks. Despite this big challenge, Malcolm seeks to inspire his audience. He says that the power of poor nations using voting power to keep richer nations from making a move on them is proof of this power of the ballot that blacks in the U.S. have. Wesley Hogan views the ballot as a powerful weapon as well. She writes about how many Southerners struggled to see the importance of voting. Hogan describes how Bevel recruited voters; through illustrating that blacks “deserved to vote, they did not have to ask for it” (Hogan). Hogan claims that in the South, the attempt for blacks to gain voting power was a method of direct action towards justice for blacks.
Malcolm continues his speech, claiming that blacks in this country are called African-Americans because they are just Africans who are in America. Malcolm argues that it’s better to call oneself an African instead of a ‘Negro’ because “Africans don’t catch hell”. He uses this logic to emphasize the ridiculous and unjust nature of attempting to Americanize and control blacks in this country. Malcolm claims that the government doesn’t have to pass civil-rights bills for Africans because Africans can go anywhere they want. He encourages his audience to reject the Americanization and control of white society in America over blacks. He further emphasizes this point by stressing how ridiculous he thinks the white man is. In his anecdote, Malcolm tells his audience about one of his friends who is black that put a turban on his head and went into a restaurant in Atlanta before they desegregated. He says that they served him and he asked what would happen if a Negro came in and the waitress said “Why, there wouldn’t no ni**er dare come in here”. Through this anecdote, Malcolm is able to convince his audience of the nature of this white oppression. The speaker is seeking to make his audience aware of the realities of what it is to be black in America.
Malcolm further calls for blacks to take political action and refresh themselves with the science of politics, so they know what to expect to receive in return for their efforts. He warns his audience not to throw away ballots; comparing a ballot to a bullet. He states that you shouldn’t throw a ballot away until you see a target within reach, otherwise you should keep it in your pocket. Malcolm uses this powerful metaphor to explain to his audience that it is best to take organized and educated political action in order to see a return result. He reiterates that the only way to overcome is to fight for their freedom; whether with the ballot or the bullet.
In his speech, Malcolm also makes claims that the economic philosophy of black nationalism means that blacks should control the economy of their community, rather than white America. He attempts to get blacks in the audience to recognize the importance for black people to control the economy of their community. The reasoning that he provides for this point is that if blacks own and operate businesses in their own community, then they are creating employment for their own people. Malcolm says that the social philosophy of black nationalism means that they have to get together to remove evils that are destroying the morality of their community.
Before he concludes, Malcolm makes a final point concerning the use of weapons in order to defend oneself. The Freedom Summer was a movement to increase black voter registration in Mississippi, that closely followed Malcolm’s speech. While the volunteers were trained to remain nonviolent, they faced harassment and a series of attacks throughout the project. The events of the Freedom Summer further increased the divide of those who still believed in a non-violent civil rights movement and those who did not believe in the achievement of racial equality without the use of self-defense or violence.
Despite the master narrative of activists of the time solely adopting the strategy of nonviolence to work towards black rights, many activists personally believed in, and acted out, self-defense. In the article “1964: The Beginning of the End of Nonviolence in the Mississippi Freedom Movement”, author Umoja claims that many black activists acquired weapons for self-defense. Self-defense was especially important in the South. Umoja writes: “Given the context of a Southern black tradition, it was difficult for nonviolence to compete with armed self-defense” (Umoja, 221). There was a lot of violence against blacks and not enough governmental protection, so many black activists had to look to themselves and their own communities to stay safe.
In his speech, Malcolm makes a similar statement that where the government has been unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of blacks, that it is time for blacks to defend themselves. He defends this statement by using the rationale that a constitutional amendment provides those in America the right to own firearms. He also uses reasoning in stating that if the white man doesn’t want the black man to buy weapons then the government should do its job in protecting blacks. He believed that it was naïve to hope to gain freedom solely through integration and nonviolence tactics. To an extent, this could be seen as an enlightening concept to many people of the time who practiced nonviolence; it was important that people recognized the significance of protecting oneself in such a dangerous time in history for blacks.
Malcolm concludes his speech on a promising note for the future of the movement of black nationalism. He encourages blacks to take action rather than waiting around for a white senator to filibuster when it comes to rights for black people; which is a direct reference to the filibustering on the civil rights bill that would continue from March to June of 1964. Malcolm even challenges Lyndon B. Johnson, who was looking for re-election, to go into senate and declare himself an advocate for black rights. Malcolm urges him not to wait to take action to work against racism in the U.S.
Malcolm ends his speech by reiterating the theme that “in 1964 it’s the ballot or the bullet”. The thematic elements that Malcolm X uses in his speech, while potentially seen as controversial, allow him to uncover a new idea for his audience to consider; that as long as black people are letting their lives be controlled by white America, they are doing themselves an injustice. He invites blacks in 1964 to take action whether it be through self-defense, social, political or economic means. His use of dramatic metaphor and logical appeal shows his skill as an orator, allowing him to connect with his audience and propel the movement of black nationalism. Through his speech, Malcolm reveals white oppression, communicating in an effective manner that allows his audience to recognize injustice against themselves and be inspired to continue to work toward great change for blacks in the U.S.