The Ballot or The Bullet - Paper 1

This text by Malcom X is an extract from his political speech to all black voters, called “The Ballot or the Bullet”, and delivered on April 3^rd 1964. This text is evident of a political speech format, as it includes the continuous use of repetition, and with the goal of influencing the audience for a common purpose. Malcolm X uses a number of literary and persuasive techniques as well as the use of references throughout this speech to argue the position of African Americans within United States in order to unite them, remind them of their constitutional right to vote and go against the “white man” –led government in which they are under. It also aims to empower the black community into standing up for their rights and equality, creating a common purpose in which to base his argument and goal.

This political speech has a target audience of African Americans, evident in the use of pronouns and the dialect used in order to refer to his listeners. The topic in which he is discussing throughout the text seems to be Black Nationalism, and how that is what his audience needs to head into in order to become independent. Having a separation of blacks and whites and creating self-government for the African Americans. Other signs that show his target audience are present when Malcom states “Well you and I have been sitting long enough” since he is himself African American, his positions as minister and as a human rights activist can prove how he wants to make a change and by using “you and I” it proves a united front that he is creating.

The purpose of this speech is to persuade the African Americans into joining this single philosophy of Black Nationalism, making a call to action and creating a common enemy to the people in the government which prevents them from reaching equality. This is present when he says “If you are black you should be thinking black”, he commands the people what their thought process should be, uses repetition throughout the first paragraph with “Once you change” this is followed numerous times with different purposes but used a chain in where once you change something it leads to the change of another thing, referencing to how Black Nationalism would work and change their lives for the better. Later on he says that they have spent enough time sitting down  and how anyone can be doing that, how it “castrates you”, then goes on empower the people and telling them their goal “Well you and I been sitting long enough, and it’s time today for us to start doing some standing, and some fighting to back that up.”

Malcom X demeans the African American audience into reality, describing the role of their people in United States and the way they are being treated. He states that blacks in America are in no more than a “second-class citizenship” and that “second-class citizenship is nothing but 20^th century slavery.” He describes that term  being nothing more than an euphemism and continues to describe the reality with use of strong diction by saying “No, you’re nothing but a 20^th century slave”. Degrading the audience with these kinds of terms puts them in a position of actuality, in that they ask themselves what would be the next step to not be treated as such, and Malcolm has the answer with the implementation of the new philosophy.

He mentions the faults in the system and points out the person to blame “Negroes have listened to the trickery, and the lies, and the false promises of the white man now for too long”. He forms a resistance with his speech against the white people and the government, using logos by stating previous occasions where nationalism used to get independence. He says that “freedom of 22 million Afro-Americans” is suffering due to colonialism for 400 years, by stating statistical figures and putting in colonialism as to blame, Malcolm appeals to logic and reason as another reason to join the Black Nationalism philosophy.

The style and structure of this extract from the political speech is visible with the use of repetition and anaphoras throughout the text with the purpose of supporting and reinforcing the main idea as well as making a cumulative and convincing effect on the audience. These rhetoric devices alongside the use of short sentence structure help the speech be fluent and for the audience to fully understand his goal. One example of the use of epistrophes in this text is found in the first paragraph, stating “An old woman can sit. An old man can sit. A chump can sit. A coward can sit.” This suggests the idea to try and differentiate the type of people mentioned with what the African Americans need to do in order to rise above. While the use of anaphoras and repetition are used widely in the text, one of the more influential ones comes in the beginning when trying to make the target audience come together to symbolize a common philosophy. He uses “You can” and then follows that up with whatever or wherever a person might be, whether in a church, civic organization or if you are an atheist and then ends it off with epistrophes “and still take Black Nationalism as your philosophy” this conveys the impression that no matter who you are or what you do within the society, you can still follow the same philosophy without the need of division or argument.

There is use of a hypophora in the beginning of the first paragraph as Malcolm tries to persuade people about the benefits of taking Black Nationalism as the new philosophy, he states “What’s is so good about it?” He then proceeds to answer the question and shows the audience why this is the way to go. A similar example is found when he asks the audience “What do you call second-class citizenship?” Off course, to create a common enemy in that, he follows by saying it would be modern slavery, a product of colonization in United States. 

In the last paragraph it can be seen that there is evident use of parallelism numerous times “Because Negroes have listened to the trickery, and the lies, and the false promises of the white man now for too long.” “He mentions all the negative consequences in result of listening and following the “white man”, this therefore causes an uprising type of mood in the text as he tries to unite the people. “They’ve become disenchanted. They’ve become disillusioned. They’ve become dissatisfied” This is another example where he explains the outcome in how the black community feels after being tricked, told lies and false promises. This not only bring the audience into realization but also the constant repetition of “They” throughout the whole paragraph makes it clear who to point the finger at to blame for their unjust treatment and lack of equality within the country they live in.

Later on in the text, Malcom uses a metaphor in order to compare the extent of frustration the black community is going through by saying it is “more explosive than all of the atomic bombs the Russians can ever invent” This comparison shows the power they have as a community in which they can use if it comes down to the ballot or the bullet. He references the march on Washington as a way to say how the “white man” fooled them by making them march between two dead white figures Lincoln and Washington, believing they are actually going somewhere. But really they are just marching for freedom figuratively and literally between two white figures which represents reality where they are just being controlled by a white-majority government and country. He makes another reference with the song “We shall overcome” and points out that by just singing and marching, nothing is going to change, and the African Americans are just being fooled. The political speech ends of with the use of inclusive language and a rhetorical question in order to use his political authority and ethos to say “What do we care about odds?” By saying “we” he makes himself as one of them and gains credibility for his argument in joining this philosophy.

The tone and mood of this text can be described as confronting, direct and generally angry overall as Malcolm tries to persuade, encourage and motivate the African-Americans into taking action and increasing their political awareness. Some of his strong dialect used in this extract which can convey a very direct and negative tone can be seen when he states “If you are black and you not thinking black at this late date, well I’m sorry for you.” And also “He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you.” These express the disappointment that is being caused for their ignorance to vote and to battle for their equal rights. A more confrontational tone used here which can be interpreted even as a threat judging from the title “The Ballot or the Bullet” Malcolm declares that their anger is even bigger than all of the atomic bomb in Russia, so if they are not allowed to vote, that built up anger and frustration will be released in terms of the “Bullet” part of the title of this political speech.

In conclusion, this political speech by Malcom X uses numerous famous techniques used in speeches, in order to rally the African Americans to follow his methodology of Black Nationalism and his goal of going to the ballot or going with violence with the bullet.