Create beautiful notes faster than ever before. There he is standing up in front of other people, Uncle Sam, with the blood of your and mine mothers and fathers on his hands, with the blood dripping down his jaws like a bloody-jawed wolf", Ap Lang Rhetorical Strategies -- "The Ballot, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses, Literature and Composition: Reading, Writing,Thinking, Carol Jago, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses, Exploration/Colonization - American Revolution. GradeSaver, Read the Study Guide for The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X: His Voice in Poetry and Politics, A Question of Appeal: Rhetorical Analysis of Malcolm X and MLK, View Wikipedia Entries for The Ballot or the Bullet. In the speech, he uses colorful language and straight talk to drive his messages surrounding voting rights, self-defense, and what he believed were worthwhile goals of the Civil Rights Movement home to his audience. Antithesis refers to creating contrast between ideas, concepts, or people to maintain the audiences attention and to emphasize an idea thespeakersupports. The purpose was to allow black people to realize the events that were happening in their lives. As one can probably tell from the title, Malcolm X is attempting to convince African American citizens to actively exercise their right to vote. Unlike the 1963 March on Washington, which was peaceful and integrated, the 1964 march Malcolm described would be an all-Black "non-nonviolent army" with one-way tickets. His black protectionist outlook called separation instead of unity and equality. Due to the lack of government the dichotomy between african americans and the white men was still a major problem ; as African americans needed to put and end to the separation and earn civil rights. He made his The Ballot or the Bullet speech during April, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio. "The Ballot or the Bullet" is a speech made by Malcolm X in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 3, 1964. 195196. Relying on peaceful protests such as sit-ins castrates the black man, says Malcolm. By contrast, Martin Luther King Jr. advocates for an engagement of Civil Disobedience by calling for nonviolent direct action which allows for African Americans to be heard by forcing their, How Does Malcolm X Use Ethos In The Ballot Or The Bullet, The Ballot or the Bullet is a speech delivered by Malcolm X in 1964. Malcolm wants the audiences to understand they have the power to change America or still continue to allow the government to control. "The Ballot or The Bullet" was a speech by Malcolm X mostly about black nationalism delivered April 12, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. He argued that the ballot was the only way to achieve true and lasting change, but that the government had to be willing to protect the rights of African Americans. At the same time, the speech indicated that Malcolm still supported Black nationalism and self-defense and thus had not made a complete break with his past. has failed and failed and failed the works of freedom. That old Uncle Tom action is outdated. Through repetition of inflammatory phrases and accusatory diction both which create appeals to anger, Malcolm X effectively persuades his audience during The Ballot Or The Bullet.. In doing so, the African-American community loses money and becomes poorer while the community the dollar was given to gains money and becomes richer. [6], When he left the Nation of Islam, Malcolm declared his willingness to cooperate with the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm X advised African Americans to judiciously exercise their right . Malcolm X emphasizes Black Nationalism as a way to help African Americans gain political, economic, and social control over their communities. "I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. The African-American community has enormous political power, Malcolm X claims, if they vote as one. Douglass received an invitation to speak at a Fourth of July celebration in his hometown, and the speech he gave called out the hypocrisy of celebrating freedom as a country while millions of its residents are enslaved. Sit-ins are disempowering because they perpetuate the image of the African-American community as cowardly and weak. 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. The Black Panther Party was organized in 1966 in California to combat police brutality, and it eventually spread to many other parts of the country. Cone, pp. California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, and activists like Dennis Peron whose partner died of AIDS in 1990 played key roles in organizing the ballot measure. After Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson threw his support behind the civil rights bill. But, he said, the police department and local government often sided with segregationists against the Civil Rights Movement. In "The Ballot or the Bullet," Malcolm outlines the power of the African American vote, saying, "when white people are evenly divided, and black people have a bloc of votes of their own, it is left up to them to determine who's going to sit in the White House." "my community with their false promises, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their, "As they nourish these dissatisfactions, it can only lead to one thing, an, It has talked and talked and talked the words of freedom, but it. They're all in cahoots together". parallelism "And until we become politically mature we will always be mislead, lead astray, or deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone politically who doesn't have the good of our community at heart." epistrophe "They don't hang you because you're a Baptist; they hang you 'CAUSE YOU'RE BLACK. More books than SparkNotes. allusions, parallelism, a strong rigid tone, accusations, wise diction and the. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X. Lyndon B. Johnson is the head of the Democratic Party. The Question and Answer section for The Ballot or the Bullet is a great When Malcolm X says "the ballot or the bullet," he reframes Patrick Henry's famous quote "Give me liberty or give me death." Malcolm X began his speech by acknowledging that he was still a Muslim, but he quickly added that he didn't intend to discuss religion or any other issues that divide African Americans. One of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement was to end disenfranchisement of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in the political process. The speech is among the top persuasive speeches of the 20th century. "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech was delivered by Malcolm X on March 3, 1964 at Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Directly or indirectly labeling those against you in a negative way. The title "The Ballot or the Bullet" has an underlining meaning. Although "The Ballot or the Bullet" advocates self-defense, it discusses non-violent ways of achieving equal rights for African Americans. I'm not a Republican,", repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, repitition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the next clause, using either a familiar object or idea to compare to a less familiar idea to help the listener/reader understand, OR using a well-accepted favorable idea to compare with a less-favorable one to gain audience approval or vice versa, contrast of ideas created through parallel construction of opposite words, phrases, or clauses, "Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists" (The Ballot or the Bullet). He gave this speech on April third in order to talk about both the election and how African-American people should proceed in order to benefit from the election. This was effective because he is making it known what the administration thinks about the African American vote; he hopes to make sure that they know and remember what the. Let him go in there right now and take a moral stand right now, not later. [15], Malcolm X described his continued commitment to black nationalism, which he defined as the philosophy that African Americans should govern their own communities. Malcolm X noted that 1964 was an election year, a year "when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community with their false promises which they don't intend to keep". Malcolm stresses that the black community makes up the 80% of the Democratic Party and with that percentage they are the ones who put a democrat in the White House. Let him know that it must be the ballot or the bullet.. Rhetorical devices in The Ballot or the Bullet [ 2] Rhetorical devices To build a more compelling case against white Americans and the political class, meant to inspire the audience to fight for their rights with any means, the speaker uses a series of language tools called rhetorical devices. The text shown above is just an extract. Black Nationalism: an ideology that African Americans should separate from white America and form their own institutions. In the speech, which was delivered on two occasions the first being April 3, 1964, at the Cory Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio[1] and the second being on April 12th 1964 at the King Solomon Baptist Church, in Detroit, Michigan. 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. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader before he was assassinated at the age of 40. Analyzes how malcolm used parallelism to establish credibility amongst his predominately christian audience by . White men won't even patronize you. We have to see each other as brothers and sisters. He declares that religion is a personal matter, not a political one. Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes. What is meant by "the ballot or the bullet"? Malcolms purpose was to emphasize the idea that the black community needs to be informed about the political community. In the speech, The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X urges African-Americans to fight the discrimination put towards them by using their votes to vanquish the evilness in America. 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. It means that when white people are evenly divided, and Black people have a bloc of votes of their own, it is left up to them to determine who's going to sit in the White House and who's going to be in the dog house. ", "As they nourish these dissatisfactions, it can only lead to one thing, an explosion;", extreme exaggeration of something that in reality may be quite logical to prove a point, "If the late President Kennedy could get together with Khrushchev and exchange some wheat, we certainly have more in common with each other than Kennedy and Khrushchev had with each other.