Analyzing Malcolm X's Speech 'The Ballot Or The Bullet'
Joshua Rosado
English 104
Professor Rosenberg
5 December 2012
Trailblazers
Black oppression dates back to the birth of the United States. For almost two hundred years Africans were kidnapped from their villages and directly imported to the New World where they would be sold into slavery and remain there for years to come (King). In slavery they would experience “the abuses associated with bondage, including arduous labor, corporal punishment, sexual exploitation, and family separations” (King). Even after slavery was abolished, black “parents taught their children how to work satisfactorily, handle injustices, and pay deference to whites while maintaining their self-respect” (King). From one generation to another, their children and …show more content…
He unites the African American community as a whole and eliminates the necessity for division and argument by addressing that “whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Nationalist” all African Americans had the same problem. Malcolm quotes in his speech that “they don’t hang you because you’re a Baptist, they hang you because you’re black”. Through this he exposes the “white man’s strategy” of divide and conquer and counterattacks it by highlighting the most important reason they were there in the first place, which was freedom of oppression. Malcolm instructs his people that before they can move forward they must first come together. Whether it is politically or physically, African Americans must unite against their …show more content…
"Walker, David." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 2255-2257. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia; Written in the Year 1781. In The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden, pp. 173–267. New York: Modern Library, 1998.
King, Wilma. "Slavery, United States." Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society. Ed. Paula S. Fass. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 757-758. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
Steele, Shelby. "And Big. Malcolm Little." The New Republic 207.26 (21 Dec. 1992): 27-31. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
WALKER, D., & WILTSE, C. M. (1965). David Walker 's appeal, in four articles, together with a preamble, to the coloured citizens of the world, but in particular, and very expressly, to those of the United States of America. New York, Hill and
English 104
Professor Rosenberg
5 December 2012
Trailblazers
Black oppression dates back to the birth of the United States. For almost two hundred years Africans were kidnapped from their villages and directly imported to the New World where they would be sold into slavery and remain there for years to come (King). In slavery they would experience “the abuses associated with bondage, including arduous labor, corporal punishment, sexual exploitation, and family separations” (King). Even after slavery was abolished, black “parents taught their children how to work satisfactorily, handle injustices, and pay deference to whites while maintaining their self-respect” (King). From one generation to another, their children and …show more content…
He unites the African American community as a whole and eliminates the necessity for division and argument by addressing that “whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Nationalist” all African Americans had the same problem. Malcolm quotes in his speech that “they don’t hang you because you’re a Baptist, they hang you because you’re black”. Through this he exposes the “white man’s strategy” of divide and conquer and counterattacks it by highlighting the most important reason they were there in the first place, which was freedom of oppression. Malcolm instructs his people that before they can move forward they must first come together. Whether it is politically or physically, African Americans must unite against their …show more content…
"Walker, David." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. Ed. Colin A. Palmer. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2006. 2255-2257. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia; Written in the Year 1781. In The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Adrienne Koch and William Peden, pp. 173–267. New York: Modern Library, 1998.
King, Wilma. "Slavery, United States." Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society. Ed. Paula S. Fass. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 757-758. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
Steele, Shelby. "And Big. Malcolm Little." The New Republic 207.26 (21 Dec. 1992): 27-31. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 Oct. 2012.
WALKER, D., & WILTSE, C. M. (1965). David Walker 's appeal, in four articles, together with a preamble, to the coloured citizens of the world, but in particular, and very expressly, to those of the United States of America. New York, Hill and