Malcolm X-The Ballot or Bullet – Flashcards

"So we're trapped, trapped, double-trapped, triple-trapped. ANWHERE we go we find that we're trapped. And EVERY kind of solution that someone comes up with is JUST another trap. But the political & economic philosophy of Black Nationalism..." (X p9) -Simplifies the issue of the lack of African American power in the community/economy as something that is unending. -Increases the audience's anger towards white people -readies audience for X's solution

"So we're TRAPPED, TRAPPED, double-TRAPPED, triple-TRAPPED. Anywhere we go we find that we're TRAPPED. And every kind of solution that someone comes up with is JUST another TRAP. But the political & economic philosophy of Black Nationalism..." (X p9) - Creates emphasis that they are being controlled by white people; negative connotations of "trap" vs. "stuck" ("trap" is harsher & more urgent) - X offers an "escape" to this trap w/ Black Nationalism

"And then you have the audacity to complain about poor housing in a run-down community. Why, you run it down yourself when you take your dollar out." (X p7) -The audience takes their money out of the community, so they are responsible for their poor living conditions. -X is creating guilt in the audience for their actions, which makes audience more likely to act, as opposed to if someone else put them in their condition, they would wait for someone else to fix it for them

"They don't hang you because you're a Baptist; they hang you 'CAUSE YOU'RE BLACK. They don't attack me because I'm a Muslim; they attack me 'CAUSE I'M BLACK. They attack all of us for the SAME reason; all of us catch hell from the SAME enemy. We're all in the SAME bag, in the SAME boat... THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED US... and you walkin' around here singing "We Shall Overcome"- THE GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED US." (X p12) -X's use of repetition emphasizes the similarities between him & the audience, establishing a common ground. -X uses this common ground to again say that his difference in religion is irrelevant & creates a sense of unity by claiming all of their problems come from the same source (& the use of inclusive pronouns "we"/ "us")

"Cassius Clay can sing, but singing didn't help him to become the heavyweight champion of the world; swinging helped him become the heavyweight champion" (X p13)

"As long as you gotta sit-down philosophy, you'll have a sit-down thought pattern, and as long as you think that old sit-down thought you'll be in some kind of sit-down action. They'll have you sitting in everywhere." (X p15) -X appeals to the audience's common sense by explaining the effect of nonviolent protest (useless action).

"This is part of what's wrong with you- you do too much singing. Today it's time to stop singing and start swinging. You can't sing up on freedom, but you can swing up on some freedom." (X p13) -X attacks MLK Jr.'s nonviolent protest by saying that singing/passiveness is unproductive in achieving freedom. -X wants his audience to become violent & start "swinging", an action that will be fruitful for achieving equality.

"It's not so good to refer to what you're doing as a "sit-in." That right there castrates you. Right there it brings you down. An old woman can sit. An old man can sit. A chump can sit. A coward can sit. Anything can sit." (X p15) -"castrates"-deprive of power; make a person a coward - "old woman", "old man", "chump", "coward" are associated with frailty, foolishness, and weakness. All of these are connected with the epistrophe "can sit". -These are things that people don't want to be associated with, so X uses this to make his audience to the opposite of "sitting" (violent protest).

"They've become dissatisfied, and all of this has built up frustrations in the black community that makes the black community throughout America today more explosive than all of the atomic bombs the Russians can ever invent" -By 1961, Russia & the US (in the Nuclear arms race) made enough bombs to destroy the world (w/ Russia producing more missiles regardless of quality) -Lets the audience know that there is more frustration than nonviolence can counteract. So violence is inevitable anyway???

"Whenever you got a racial powder keg sitting in your lap, you're in more trouble than if you had an atomic powder keg sitting in your lap. When a racial powder keg goes off, it doesn't care who it knocks out of the way. Understand this, it's dangerous." (X p17) -The idea of the atomic powder keg presents an idea of power and produces fear in the audience. -With X's comparison of a racial powder keg being more dangerous than an atomic powder keg, he helps build the idea that Black Nationalism is something that is effective & will impact the whole world (versus an atomic powder keg- only directly impacts a nation/large area). -X compares "civil rights" (nonviolent protest) vs. "human rights" (Black Nationalism)

"He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you. He made you think you were going somewhere and you end up going nowhere but between Lincoln and Washington." (X p18) - Repetition of "He made" followed by "you" emphasizes the control & dominance of the "white man" over the audience.

"..what can the white man use now to fool us after he put down that MARCH on Washington?...He tricked you, had you MARCHING down to Washington. Yes, had you MARCHING back and forth between the feet of a dead man named Lincoln and another dead man named George Washington..." (X p18) -Repetition of "march/marching" creates a sense that the "white man" is control because marching connotes obedience. -X also repeatedly mentions "Washington"- a white man

"... And in 1964 you'll see this young black man, this new generation asking for the ballot or bullet. That old Uncle Tom action is outdated. The young generation don't want to hear anything about the odds are against us. What do we care about odds?" (X 19) -Uncle Tom was beaten to death by his master & is a derogatory term for someone who perceives themselves as inferior & is obedient to authority. -The "action" of the younger generation of African Americans is not submission to the "white man".--> Audience feels guilt for being like Uncle Tom & obeying the "white man" (w/ nonviolent protest)

"Patrick Henry was a patriot, and George Washington." (X p20) "...yet these 13 little scrawny states, tired of taxation without representation, tired of being exploited and oppressed and degraded, told that big British Empire 'liberty or death.'" (X p21) -X compares himself to revered leaders of the American Revolution & claims that his idea of Black Nationalism is the same as the revolutionary war ideals. -Makes audience believe that X is fighting for the well respected ideals of liberty & Justice. -Implied logos: this type of revolution has worked before so it will work now.

"... though Islam is my religious philosophy, my political, economic, and social philosophy is Black Nationalism. You & I- As I say, if we bring up religion we'll have differences; we'll have arguments; and we'll never able to get together..." (X p3) -By using "You & I" and "we", X encourages the audience to see themselves as similar to X & shifts the focus from religion to Black Nationalism.

"Islam is my religion, but I believe my religion is my personal business. It governs my personal life, my personal morals. And my religious philosophy is personal between me & the God in whom I believe; just as the religious philosophy of these others is between them and the God in whom they believe." (X p2) -Repetition of "my personal..." reassures the audience that X is not trying to convert them (ethos)

"Not only is he a crook, he's a hypocrite. There he is standing up in front of other people, Uncle Sam, with the blood of your and mine mothers and fathers on his hands, with the blood dripping down his jaws like a bloody-jawed wolf..." (X p24) -Uncle Sam is a personification of the US government - Increases the audience's hatred toward white people by calling back the long history of mistreatment that African Americans received white people (which the government didn't do so much to prevent) -More personal connection to the audience with "your and mine mothers and fathers"

""Not only is he a crook, he's a hypocrite... Uncle Sam, with the blood of your and mine mothers and fathers on his hands, with the blood dripping down his jaws LIKE a bloody-jawed wolf..." (X p24) -"crook" & "hypocrite" connote injustice & lack of integrity. This is used to describe the government - Comparing Uncle Sam to a wolf helps the audience to see that the government is ruthless & inhuman. -Decreases the audience's obedience to the US government ("they deserve it because they're cruel & unjust")

"...the only way we're going to solve it- we gotta unite in unity and harmony, and Black Nationalism is the key...And the reason this tendency exists, the strategy of the white man has always been divide and conquer..." (X p25) -"only", "is the key", "always" makes Black Nationalism seem like the only means to achieve freedom & regain control from the "white man"

"This is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet. It's liberty or it's death. It's freedom for everybody or freedom for nobody..." (X p23) -makes the issue at hand seem simpler (Black & white) -The audience must choose a side; X wants them to choose the bullet (violence). The ballot represents the election year of 1964 (where white people will make false promises) -X alludes to a famous quote from Patrick Henry to equate this issue w/ the respected American Revolution