Malcolm X Ballot Or The Bullet Analysis

On April 3, 1964, Malcolm X delivered a speech that would drastically influence change in the course of the civil rights movement. The Ballot or the Bullet was delivered at a time when African-American outrage was at its peak. 1964 was a year that involved African-Americans being brutalized by white police officers, discriminated against by white business owners, and hated by the white community at large. 1964 followed the year in which the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing resulted death of four young girls and President John F. Kennedy was assassinated (Vox). The movement towards freedom and equality continued and Malcolm X gave this speech when the reassurance of leadership was needed. Although Malcolm X was already a well-known and credible leader of the time, analyzing his use of rhetorical appeals proved to be very beneficial. In his speech he asserts, in a variety of ways, that the “white man” has wronged the black community and it is time to fight back. Granted, there were some fallacies in his argument, his overall use of ethos, logos and pathos was very successful. He set out to …show more content…
After acknowledging the U.N.’s involvement in other countries’ well-being, he continues by saying, “and you have 22 million Afro-Americans whose choices are being bound, whose little girls are being murdered, whose leaders are being shot down in broad daylight” (X). This reference to the church bombing and presidential assassination stirred up a great amount of emotion in the audience. He goes on to question why, after these events took place, the civil rights leaders did not take their struggles to the U.N. and “let the world see that Uncle Sam is guilty of violating the human rights”. This use of pathos was successful and was evidently convincing to the listening audience as they let out excited