In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson sent Congress a bill proposal that outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or nationality. In March 1964, eighteen Southern Democrats launched a sixty-day filibuster to block its passage. On April 3, 1964, Malcolm X delivered the famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech calling for black self-determination.
Malcolm X highlights that all black people have a common problem regardless of religious differences: political oppression, economic exploitation, and social degradation. He calls out the hypocrisy of the Democratic party that positions itself as pro-civil rights to get the black vote but fails to make any legislative changes despite holding a majority in Congress. He declares that the Democratic and Republican party dichotomy is a smokescreen; there is a general government conspiracy to disenfranchise black people with practices such as gerrymandering. According to Malcolm, compromising with Democrats or appealing to America’s nonexistent conscience is fruitless.
Malcolm argues that the civil-rights struggle needs a new interpretation: the ballot or the bullet. Black people must use their right to vote and fight for political, economic, and social self-determination until they get what they are owed after three centuries of unpaid slave labor. Nonviolence only works if the enemy is nonviolent; otherwise, it becomes necessary to take up arms. Malcolm urges Lyndon B. Johnson to denounce the Southern Democrats, halt the filibuster, or risk a violent march to Washington.
Malcolm X is remembered as a literary genius, and “The Ballot or the Ballot” is his greatest oratory achievement. He had a gift for urging social change through well-crafted logical arguments expressed in “highly charged and concentrated language” (McLaren, 2015, 102). He did not aim to be academic or objective – he used slang and colloquialisms. His urgent and emotionally evocative style appealed straight to the heart of black Americans who witnessed everyday injustices. He understood their pain, felt angry on their behalf, and advocated for change that came from within. According to Ta-Nehisi Coates, Malcolm’s most compelling idea was collective self-creation: “the idea that black people could, through force of will, remake themselves” (Coates, 2011). Malcolm utilized radical rhetoric to galvanize black Americans towards independence.
Furthermore, Malcolm knew how to provoke white Americans and force them to listen. His call to arms captured mass media attention and let the country know black people were not satisfied with letting white politicians debate their humanity in Congress. They were ready to risk violence if their demands remained ignored.
In my opinion, Malcolm X’s speech is highly invigorating and remains more relevant than ever. It is an essential educational material for anyone interested in pursuing social equality. While Malcolm’s delivery is exceptionally radical and divisive, it only emphasizes the urgency and pain inflicted by societal injustice. Clearly, his anger with the system is not performative but comes from personal experience and a desire to see his people prosper.
His presentation of the sociopolitical situation makes change feel like a moral necessity. Fifty years after his speech, the issues he pinpointed are at the forefront of modern political discussion: liberal Democrat hypocrisy, voter disenfranchisement, and American interventionism. His call to arms is particularly pertinent in light of recent #BlackLivesMatter protests. Marginalized groups are growing increasingly disillusioned with the government and beginning to march, urge citizens to vote, and run for political positions of power just as Malcolm urged them to do. In 2016, 26-year-old district commissioner Mariah Parker took the oath of office, holding Malcolm’s autobiography instead of the Bible (Wicker, 2018). Malcolm X’s legacy lives on.
In conclusion, in 1964, Malcolm X made the landmark “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech expressing the necessity of attaining socio-economic and political self-determination for black Americans. He criticized the American government for disenfranchising and segregating its black constituents. Malcolm used well-crafted logical arguments and emotionally provocative expressions to galvanize social change. The struggle for equality is far from over, but Malcolm X inspires new generations of activists to keep fighting.
References
Coates, T. (2011). ‘The legacy of Malcolm X’: Why his vision lives on in Barack Obama. The Atlantic. Web.
Malcolm, X. (1965). The ballot or the bullet. Pacifica Tape Library.
McLaren, J. (2015). Malcolm-Esque: A Black Arts Literary Genre. In Edozie R. & Stokes C. (Eds.), Malcolm X’s Michigan worldview: An exemplar for contemporary black studies (pp. 101-116). Michigan State University Press.
Wicker, J. (2018). ‘Meet Mariah Parker, the Georgia politician who was sworn in on a copy of Malcolm X’s autobiography. Teen Vogue. Web.