On April 3, 1964, human rights activist Malcolm X gave the speech “The Ballot or the Bullet.” The speech was delivered in a time of political upheaval, when discussions of racial equality and integration between white and black people were becoming popularized and increasing in frequency. Malcolm X himself suffered much turmoil leading up to the speech; after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, Malcolm X, refusing to give condolences to the Kennedy family as ordered by the Nation of Islam, of which he was a part of, leader, (instead uttering his famous “chickens coming home to roost” quote, i.e. that America reaped what it sowed regarding this drastic loss of hope) and was banished from the group
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The parallelism in the speech perpetuate his argument that oppression is ubiquitous and only spread further through moderation. Moderation by both white and black people, Malcolm X argues, is poisonous; moderate white people contribute to racism, and moderate black people fuel their suffering. The parallelism (additionally advanced with anaphora) demonstrates the correlation between moderation and deterioration as X harangues, “[if you continue passivity and moderation, if you continue weakness] you should get back in the cotton patch, you should get back in the alley.” Alluding to slavery and white on black violence, Malcolm X analogizes moderation to slavery and crime, equally as destructive and depriving. The alliteration in “the ballot or the bullet” amplifies the similarities between the two objects (arguably, the two weapons) which Malcolm X built the speech around; the ballot is taking the fight from internal anger to external action as is the bullet, but one is taking it to contention in politics, and the other is taking it to warfare in the streets. Though superficially different, as demonstrated by the alliteration between the two they both, in fact, involve game-changing strategy – far from the passivity of the public and colleagues Malcolm X castigates. His imagery of violence and inequality strengthen his case by vividly clarifying his points (“I 'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner.”) and his pejorative word choice – “victim,” “wasted,” “nightmare” – incorporates pathos into his appeal to his audience’s righteous
The parallelism in the speech perpetuate his argument that oppression is ubiquitous and only spread further through moderation. Moderation by both white and black people, Malcolm X argues, is poisonous; moderate white people contribute to racism, and moderate black people fuel their suffering. The parallelism (additionally advanced with anaphora) demonstrates the correlation between moderation and deterioration as X harangues, “[if you continue passivity and moderation, if you continue weakness] you should get back in the cotton patch, you should get back in the alley.” Alluding to slavery and white on black violence, Malcolm X analogizes moderation to slavery and crime, equally as destructive and depriving. The alliteration in “the ballot or the bullet” amplifies the similarities between the two objects (arguably, the two weapons) which Malcolm X built the speech around; the ballot is taking the fight from internal anger to external action as is the bullet, but one is taking it to contention in politics, and the other is taking it to warfare in the streets. Though superficially different, as demonstrated by the alliteration between the two they both, in fact, involve game-changing strategy – far from the passivity of the public and colleagues Malcolm X castigates. His imagery of violence and inequality strengthen his case by vividly clarifying his points (“I 'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner.”) and his pejorative word choice – “victim,” “wasted,” “nightmare” – incorporates pathos into his appeal to his audience’s righteous