Summary Of Malcolm X's Speech By Any Means Necessary

The United States is a immigrant country, which faces varieties of problems. The African American problem is one of the most serious one. Racial segregation is a deep-rooted social problem, which reflects in every field in the United States. For example, education, labor market and criminal justice system. In the aspect of education, most of black children were not permitted to enter the school, because the white children studied there. In the aspect of labor market, the black people 's average wages were lower than the whites. They did the manual work. In the aspect of criminal justice system, the blacks were easily in jail. Badly, their sentences were also more serious than the whites. In general, the blacks live in the bottom of the American society. Martin Luther King delivered the famous speech I Have a Dream, ' ' I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ' ' (1) However, it was difficult for African American to get the freedom. The 1776 Declaration of Independence announced that everyone are equal and freedom.But black slavery still occurred in the southern states of America. Then the Civil War broke out, African American kept struggling for land and political rights.

“We want freedom by any means necessary. We want justice by any means necessary. We want equality by any means necessary.” This famous quote was spoken by African-American Muslim and human rights activist Malcolm X in June of 1964. At this period of time America was going through the era of segregation and the civil rights movement so leaders like Malcolm X wished to bring blacks together to form strong organizations for change. Throughout the speech Malcolm attempts to engage his listeners to his ideas and explain the creation of an organization to increase Black Nationalism.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York”. He is saying that we should let freedom ring all over the nation to end civil inequality. Another example is when he states “We will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands. . .”. He is saying that when we let freedom ring we will become one and civil inequality will end. Malcolm X’s solution to civil inequality was that Afro- Americans need to get involved and also need to defend themselves. Evidence of this is when he said “The time when white people can come in our community and get us to vote for them so they can be our political leaders and tell us what to do and what not to do is long gone”. He is saying that it’s time for Afro-Americans to get involved and end this. Another example is when he said “The economic philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that we should own and operate and control the economy of our community”. He is saying that the Afro-Americans should defend their community by getting involved. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X both had good solutions to end civil inequality.

Powerful movements require powerful leadership. During the 1960s a push for civil rights developed, and African Americans took various positions. Two strong leaders, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X approached the Civil Rights Movement using different methods. Their speeches reflect the disposition of their tactics. In his speech, “I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King, Jr. focuses on applying his non-violent philosophy. On the contrary, Malcolm X projects himself in an aggressive tone reflecting the attitudes of Black Nationalists in “Ballot or the Bullet.” These speakers demonstrate their objectives and tone through their use of diction and syntax.

The first device that Malcolm x uses to make his claim that “blacks need to exercise their voting right in either a peaceful or violent manner”, is by using emotional appeals. One example of this is when he states “The year when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community with their false promises, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their trickery and their treachery, with their false promises

April 3, 1964, Malcolm X gives his well renowned speech; The Ballot or the Bullet in Cleveland Ohio. His purpose behind the speech is to encourage African-Americans of the United States to stand up to the unfair treatment that he believes they receive. Throughout the speech, Malcolm X creates an ambition in the audience, encouraging change through the numerous uses of ethos, logos, and pathos. Malcolm X uses his personal experiences to show the audience that he has experienced the same negativity that they do everyday. X suggests everyone should be treated equally; religion, gender and race aside. His audience was made up of a majority of African-Americans, he uses the common ground of wanting to achieve equal treatment to show his audience he is on the same side as them. Through the organization of the speech, it is rhetorically effective. He practices the phrase “The Ballot or the Bullet” which uses repetition, forcing listeners to remember the phrase which later becomes more effective. X begins using ethos by introducing himself, immediately gaining the attention of the audience as well as respect of the audience. X then makes the current problem in the African-American community extremely clear to the audience, this is his use of pathos, where he engages them in his thought process and bringing them in using emotion. The speech uses rhetoric to emotionally and logically

Malcolm x was a civil right leader who wanted to do anything to fight for justice in the black community .On December, 10, 1963 Malcolm gave a speech called “Message of roots”

The white workers beat an old black lady for not paying her bill. He could not defend the old lady because he knew the whites would hurt him if I tried to help her. Later on in the story, a security guard slaps a fellow black female employee on the butt. The African American man feels embarrassed for letting his friend get slapped on the butt. The employee who got slapped says, “‘Don’t worry, you couldn’t help it”’ (246). This quote shows that blacks had no chance to defend others because if they did, the whites would just beat them even more. The girl knows they can’t do anything about it and tells him not to worry. From white security guards to racist groups such as the KKK, whites could do basically whatever they want to do to blacks at this time. At the very beginning of Malcolm X, the KKK is at Malcolm’s house. They were surrounding the house, “brandishing their shotguns and rifles” (1). The KKK is around the house with weapons wanting Malcolm’s father to leave town. He had no way to defend himself because they had all weapons. Many people and organizations in town, and even the police are corrupt and don’t like the blacks. Part of being a man is defending others and the whites would not let them do this at this time.

In this he reaches out to all backgrounds and religions to try and unite them in the common cause. Claiming that they have all suffered in this together. And that to be aware that it is election year and that the white man will smile at you most when he needs you and look down upon you when he doesn’t. This speech resonated because I could not help but think of this year. 2016 is an election year. Yes we have come a long way but not as far as we had hoped. We are still facing the race debate. And many of the battles and obstacles that Malcom X faced then, are still being faced

The African Americans will have to show that they are useful beings that can both excel and perform at challenging jobs. In essence, Washington’s plan was for African Americans to prove themselves to the dominant white race by acquiring high economic status. (Gibson, "78.02.02: Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois: The Problem of Negro Leadership.”) However, Booker T. Washington’s job of accepting white supremacy place African Americans in an inferior position. Civil rights leaders should be working for equality. By mainly going after jobs, African Americans will gain economic status but they will forever be considered inferior because of their skin color. Civil rights will not come along because of economic status.

The context in which a statement is made can change the entire meaning of what was said.  This is why many times people will use context as a defense for statements they make that offend or cause some sort of public backlash.   The manner in which a person delivers a message and what messages the rhetor chooses to deliver can be a great indication of foundation of that persons value and belief system. There are a number of value systems present in Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech that he delivered in the storied election year of 1964. There are many statements made in the ballot or the bullet

Though many white men fight with violence, all black men must fight back with acceptance and love, which poses significant physical threat to the black man. The nonviolent black man is brave enough to act on what he knows: a black man is no better or worse than a white man. By acting rationally and without violence, a person can authentically maintain his or her dignity by being respectful, courageous, and accepting. These qualities are especially admirable when they exist in all areas of a person’s life, even in the face of physical danger, violence, and fear. When a person chooses to act on what he or she knows is right, this person understands that “to act is to be committed,” but “to be committed is to be in danger” (9). A white American man takes no risk in claiming that an African American is inferior, especially since his fundamental reason for believing so, that the black

In 1963 John F. Kennedy proposed the civil rights bill to ban discrimination against a person’s race, religion, sex, and nationality in public spaces and for job. This bill was blocked by the Southern Democrats, also called the Dixiecrats, providing the context for Malcolm X’s speech given April 3, 1964. Malcolm X begins by clarifying that he is not speaking about his personal religious beliefs, but instead speaking to all blacks to join him in Black Nationalism in defense of their culture, their rights, and their freedom. The unjust treatment from the government in withholding blacks’ freedom, as well as the white man’s exploitation of the uneducated blacks are reasons enough to revolt and assert change. Malcolm directs the responsibility of change onto every black to educate themselves in business and politics in order to build up their poverty-stricken communities.

In 1964, Malcolm X had created the philosophy of change ¨by any means necessary¨. This philosophy was a foreign concept before but it is now implemented into our lives in the form of Black Lives Matter.people contradict this theory in various ways but it still stands that Malcolm X's ¨by any means necessary¨ is the best options to see change in society. To begin with, Malcolm X's philosophy of “by any means necessary” is the best way to change society because peace did not solve everything. Martin Luther King Jr believed in nonviolence and peace but that never worked out for him.

April 3, 1964 Malcolm X gave one of the most iconic speeches of all time. Malcolm gave this speech at the “Cory Methodist Church” where he spoke out about the politics of voting for African Americans. Malcolm X advised that African Americans should vote, however if prejudice continued and the government continued to prevent blacks from being completely equal that African Americans would have to use more violent tactics. This speech is great for a number of reasons and one of these reasons is Malcolm X’s use of rhetorical devices.