Literary Analysis - First Draft

The City College of New York

English 11000 Honors 

October of 2013

Omar Rafael

A Call For Action 

     In Malcolm X’s speech, “The Ballot or the Bullet”, although Malcolm X intends to emphasize the importance of the African-American vote by warning African-Americans that they have to cautiously exercise their right to vote during this crucial period, his speech is really a calling for them to wake up and adopt a much more insistent role in fighting for their innate rights. 

“Don’t be throwing out any ballots. A ballot is like a bullet. You don’t throw your ballots until you see a target, and if that target is not within your reach, keep you ballot in your pocket” (Malcolm X, “The Ballot or the Bullet”). If someone were to select a phrase that most clearly identifies the gist of Malcolm X’s speech, that line would probably achieve just that. Although Malcolm X successfully touches upon many issues, the most salient one from which he appears to branch out from is the issue of voting. Early in his speech, Malcolm X explains that the year of 1964 is an important year as elections are right around the corner. He fervently voices that this marks the time of the year where the white politicians head to the African-American communities and make all these false promises not because they intend to help their struggle for equality, but merely because they seek to gain office. From this premise, Malcolm X successfully ventures out and urges his audience to stop turning a blind eye to all of this and instead, be much more careful with who they give their votes to. 

Throughout his speech, Malcolm X employs the use of various rhetorical techniques that help his speech come to life. From the very beginning, an immediate aspect that stands out is Malcolm X’s tone. Malcolm X’s extreme degree of bluntness along with the logic and analysis he presents creates a mood where the reader is able to feel the anger and dissatisfaction that he feels towards the not only the white man, but also his fellow compatriots. In his speech, Malcolm X goes through the usual formalities that one would expect of anyone presenting a speech to an audience. He begins by introducing himself , by providing the public with some background information about himself, and by starting to hint at what his speech will concern. Immediately following these formalities however, he switches into full gear when he states why he is here today: “I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem... We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man” (Malcolm X, “The Ballot of the Bullet”). Shortly thereafter, he continues by flat-out stating that everyone has suffered at the hands of the white man,  “All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man” (Malcolm X). 

Malcolm X is not only angry and dissatisfied by the white man’s inability to recognize African-Americans as the Americans that they are, he is also dissatisfied by his fellow compatriots’ degree of passiveness towards the situation that they are in.  Malcolm X paints a picture where it is as if they believed that voting for democrats would help their situation take a turn for the better. To this, Malcolm X tells them that they have to wake up. He points out that both the House of Representatives and the Senate have had a democratic majority for a while now and yet, African-Americans have not made much progress.  Malcolm X’s anger and dissatisfaction is readily apparent when he directly address them and states that “It was the black man's vote that put the present administration in Washington, D.C. Your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in Washington, D.C., that has seen fit to pass every kind of legislation imaginable, saving you until last, then filibustering on top of that. And your and my leaders have the audacity to run around clapping their hands and talk about how much progress we're making...” (Malcolm X). Malcolm X’s level of directness, his persistent attempts to get his audience to associate with what he is saying, and his logic all lead me to conclude that he was more than successful in his efforts to make his audience understand the importance and severity of not only the importance of their vote but also, the importance of the fight for their rights as the Americans that they were.

Although the title of this speech may be “The Ballot or the Bullet”, as readers approach the final sections of this speech, it appears that there is a bigger and broader message that Malcolm X is trying to get out. By the end, Malcolm X explicitly states that African-Americans have to stop waiting around for the white man to eventually change his opinions of them. Instead, he proposes that the African-American community take matters into their own hands and adopt a sense of black nationalism so that all the evils harming the morality of the black community are removed so that everyone will be satisfied with where they are and consequently not aspire to belong to other social circles. He is asking that they all re-evaluate themselves so that their community will thrive. “It's time for you and me to stop sitting in this country, letting some cracker senators, Northern crackers and Southern crackers, sit there in Washington, D.C., and come to a conclusion in their mind that you and I are supposed to have civil rights. There's no white man going to tell me anything about my rights. Brothers and sisters, always remember, if it doesn't take senators and congressmen and presidential proclamations to give freedom to the white man, it is not necessary for legislation or proclamation or Supreme Court decisions to give freedom to the black man. You let that white man know, if this is a country of freedom, let it be a country of freedom; and if it's not a country of freedom, change it” (Malcolm X). With these words providing a sense of closure, Malcolm X is really urging his fellow compatriots to stop sitting around and instead wake up to the reality at hand: that if they truly wanted to progress, that they had to adopt a more forcible stance and fight for their rights as Americans. 

Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” is more than successful in not only cautioning African-Americans about the way that they exercise their right to vote, but also in urging his audience to stop turning a blind eye to their current situation and instead, to adopt a more proactive role in efforts to finally receive the rights they deserved as Americans. Malcolm X’s extreme bluntness along with the logic and analysis that he presents creates a mood where the reader is more than able to feel his dissatisfaction and anger at both the white man and the black community. With the aforementioned elements, Malcolm X has the power to shock his audience into realizing the harsh truth that simple noncompliance will not help them more than it already has. Instead, he urges them to take action. This does not necessarily have to mean that the will go out and purchase guns, as he points out in his speech, rather it means that they have to start by judiciously exercising their right to vote and by adopting a sense of black nationalism where they can re-evaluate themselves. Malcolm X expresses that only after this is done will they begin to gain grounds.