Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, are two crucial leaders in the civil rights movement. Although, the end goal for both leaders was to put an end to segregation and slavery and to achieve equality, the influential figures share several different and similar approaches to the situation: a radical, pro-violent approach taken by X and a rational, non-violent approach taken by King. The trivial similarities and differences between King 's "Letters from Birmingham Jail" and X 's "The Ballot or the Bullet" range from the style/tone, their thoughts on violent means, and their thoughts on the government. "The Ballot or the Bullet" and "Letters from Birmingham Jail" differ in terms of the style/tone used regardless of the …show more content…
By establishing a non-formal connection with his audience, he is able to communicate his message using pathos and often uses the technique of repetition as he is repeatedly referring to his audience as "you" (X 357). By using personal pronouns, he makes every single person listening to or reading his speech feel included and like what they have to say matters; they are emotionally drawn to him and are convinced out of reason due to his use of logos as he talks about what it 's like to be an African American seeing as the majority of them can relate. King takes a very formal approach in his letter, addressing not his fellow African Americans but the white, Christian clergymen. King uses personal pronouns, as X does, but instead, he addresses the white clergymen directly yet everyone guilty of …show more content…
The idea of violence is a key difference when comparing X and King. King is known for his preaching of non-violent means of protest. He states: "We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive" (King 73). Here, Martin Luther King Jr. is inferring that violence is not necessary to convey a message or fight for what one believes, and that attaining justice isn 't limited to the act of violence. King does not believe in using violence to fight violence and uses ethos to appeal to the audience: "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly" (King 65). This is similar to the saying that two wrongs don 't make a right. King is acknowledging that being violent to respond to violence is only going to cause more chaos which in terms is not right; he is thinking about consequence. Malcolm X 's speech is fueled with anger and rage. He cautiously avoids directly encouraging his audience to be violent but makes statements like: "I don 't mean go out and get violent; but at the same time, you should never be nonviolent unless you run into some nonviolence" (X 360). X is subliminally telling his audience that they haven 't run into nonviolence, but that the horrors being committed against them, because of the color of their skin, are violent. He is ironically saying that he is not telling them to go out and be violent but that they must fight violence with violence in effort of
X is trying to convey to his fellow black Americans that if they don’t receive the political say they deserve, it may be necessary to turn to violence to get the equal power they should already possess. This speech was given a month before the Civil Rights Act was passed by the Senate, which made many of its arguments about voting obsolete and solved many of Malcolm X’s complaints. If passed, the Civil Rights Act would give them the “ballot”, which is what X is pushing for. The violence the “bullet” refers to is secondary, only to be fallen back onto if they don’t receive the “ballot”.
Malcolm X was an effective leader because he had exceptional communication skills. These skills are viewed in his speech “By Any Means Necessary” and have been analyzed. The main goal of this speech was for blacks to figure out or to begin to figure out, what they can do to change the injustice, in order for blacks to gain things that
MLK and Malcolm X both wanted equality but in different ways. Martin Luther King believed in nonviolence to end segregation. However, Malcolm X believed in segregation; where African Americans would govern themselves without bothering the whites. But which idea was better for society? Malcolm X’s philosophy offers a variety of solutions for
The African American Civil Rights movement existed at large between the early fifties and the late sixties in a society that was constantly on the verge of social destruction. The black rights movement existed politically, socially, and economically everywhere in the United States. As time progressed the movement developed and saw many changes along with schisms separating activists and how they approached getting their rights. In the early fifties there was a large non-violent integration based movement spearheaded by figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. However, as the time progressed, the movement started seeing a more aggressive leadership with figures such as Malcolm X, but eventually it turned into an extremist movement
Philosophical differences between martin luther king and malcolm X The philosophical differences between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X have to do with the their protest strategies. MLK never fought with violence. Although he would get physically attacked, he stood his ground and continued to fight for equality peacefully. King believed that whites and blacks should come together to end the hate and violence.
Malcolm X didn’t agree with what King’s views, he believed that MLK’s dream was not a dream but a nightmare. Martin Luther King Jr’s approach to civil rights and equality was non-violent protesting, sit-ins, and getting as much people together as possible while not using violence. However, Malcolm X’s approach to this was almost the opposite. He was against the views of whites and he was willing to do whatever was needed to achieve
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were two influential men who served as important figures for the Civil Rights Movement. The two men came from diverse backgrounds and had contrasting views in life about religion and African American’s stance in society. Malcolm X was born in Nebraska and had great amounts of exposure to racism. Martin Luther King was born in an educated family in Atlanta, where he experienced racism, but to a lower extreme than Malcolm X. Although they passed away long time ago, they continue to live on today in a world independent of segregation. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X used opposing principles to achieve equality for blacks; King utilized integration of both races and nonviolence as opposed to Malcolm X who separated the same races and employed non violence so as to achieve the same goal.
3. He is implying that this election year, African Americans have no intentions of having a friendly and peaceful protest march. Excessive violence will be used and whatever the outcome may be including death hence his statement of “They're going with one way tickets,” African Americans were willing to “go out with a fight “while fighting for true equality. Subtopic 3) Appeal to Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Subtopic 3a) a rhetorical tactic, modes of persuasion used to convince his audience 1) Appeal to Ethos: “Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences.”
Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.
Imagine living in a world of segregation - constantly judged by color of one’s skin and not being permitted to associate with the “superior” race. From slavery to discrimination, African-Americans experienced this horror in daily life since the beginning of their existence. Due to the fear of severe punishment, blacks were scared to fight for equality; however, on April 3, 1964 in Cleveland, Ohio, one brave soul finally did. His name was Malcolm Little (known as Malcolm X), a widely acknowledged human rights activist. Although he supported black equality, he attacked the problem unlike others such as Martin Luther King Jr. did.
In America at the time The Ballot or the Bullet was given, segregation was still occurring. Malcolm X was a fighter for civil rights. In 1964 there was going to be a presidential election. Malcolm X was a civil rights leader and part of The Nation of Islam. He gave this speech on April third in order to talk about both the election and how African-American people should proceed in order to benefit from the election.
Martin Luther King Jr said,“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools”. In the late 1960s, racial tension was high, African Americans were not given the right to vote, the right to a fair education, and the right to a fair judgement. This then led to the separation of schools and the destruction of a normal livelihood. Dr.King and Malcolm X, two men in the face of oppression rose up to challenge the racial barrier, thus changing the world forever. Although Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X seem to have mutual respect and an equal understanding of the inequality, their philosophies were quite different from each other.
King believed in “peace, no violence, and unity between all” (www.biography.com). In contrast, Malcolm X was all for violence. Malcolm X was born into a Muslim household. He relied heavily on his faith and was extremely influential towards pushing others to join the Islamic community. During his journey Malcolm X even “grew the Islamic population in America from 4,000 to 40,000 members by 1960” (www.biography.com), proving his dedication to the Muslim faith.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were both two African American civil rights activists who were very prominent throughout history. They fought for what they believed in but in vastly different ways. Martin Luther King Jr. was born to a middle class family and was well educated. Malcolm X, on the other hand, grew up in a rather hostile environment with barely enough schooling. Both their speeches, “I Have a Dream” and “The Ballot or the Bullet” may have shared some common traits, but at the same time, differed greatly in various aspects.
African american rights were the main concern of many people, along with government corruption and the unwillingness to help. Malcolm X was no banal man he was a extravagant civil rights speaker, he showed the truth on how coming together can put the end to African American indifference. Due to the lack of government the dichotomy between african americans and the white men was still a major problem ; as African americans needed to put and end to the separation and earn civil rights. Malcolm speaks out to all who are willing to obtain their civil rights. ”In Ballot or Bullet” Malcolm X uses Anaphora, Antithesis, Ethical Appeal, Word choice, and Rhetorical question to show the lack of support from government and how coming together can help fight back.