Interpreting Malcom Xs Ballot or the Bullet - 558 Words

Interpreting Malcolm X’s Ballot or the Bullet His name alone is a protest to the minds of the Caucasians of his time. TheÂâ€" X symbolizes the rejection of the ‘re-naming and the absence of an inherited African name to take its place, given to him from Caucasian slave owners or the racist and prejudice America. It was common for them to be given slave names during this time. Similarly, in his speech The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X cursed the actions of the white population without any attempts to reason. His approach to the civil rights issue is in complete opposition to the tactics of other civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Rather than trying to integrate the colored and whites, he attempts to completely separate them. Instead of wishing the blacks to integrate into the white restaurants, he wants blacks to own the restaurants. Malcolm X believed the colored population had to break the psychological, cultural, economic, and political dependency on their oppressors. By appealing to his audience with t he use of ethos, Malcolm X attacks the repetition of African-Americans to cooperate with White America, and insists they invest into their African roots, their ancestors; thus, he promotes his purpose: to instill a feeling of respect and self-help in his fellow black community, which in this time was a powerful stepping stone to the equality of the African-American population. Malcolm X begins destroying the border between Black and White America at