Commentary (model text)

"We'll work with anybody, anywhere, at any time, who is genuinely interested in tackling the probem head on, nonviolenty as long as the enemy is nonviolent, but violent when the enemy gets violent. We'll work with you on the voter-registation drive, we'll work with you on rent strikes, we'll work with you on school boycotts — I don't believe in any kind of integration; I'm not even worried about it because I know you're not going to get it anyway. (... ) But we'll work with you on the school boycotts because we are against any segregated school system."

- Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet" (1964)

This quote appears towards the end of Malcolm X's speech, "The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964), in the part devoted to segregation, which explains why it is such a serious problem for the African American community. While the quote begins with an appeal to the combination of the efforts of all (“anybody, anywhere, anytime”), its contextualization situates the appeal at the time of racial strife in the United States, and of opposed views on how to put an end to the unfair treatment of African-Americans. Without being mentioned, Martin Luther King and his defense of aiming for integration with pacific civil disobedience are undermined, creating an opposition between “you” and “I”, which belied the initial affirmation of union: “I don't believe in any kind of integration; I'm not even worried about it because I know you're not going to get it anyway.”

The problem, therefore, lies in opposed views about segregation in the US and how to fight it. Malcolm X believed this fight shoud be taken " head on, nonviolenty as long as the enemy is nonviolent, but violent when the enemy gets violent." He therefore scorned M. L. King’s Christian belief “we shall overcome”, rather espousing the more belligerent attitude of Negro Nationalism, which also defended separation instead of integration, with African-Americans controlling the centers of decisions in their communities. For the latter, then, school boycotts would be more a way of overthrwoing the institutional status quo than of attempting to mix chidren colourfully and peacefully as in Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream.” In fact, as illustrated in the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison that simple dream of color-blind schools was much more complex and entailed forced dislocation of children and parents which were resented by both whites and blacks.

While sympathizing with Malcolm X’s anger, and sometimes doubting the effectiveness of passive resistance (even Thoreau, the quiet man of the woods, who was the first public civil disobedient for political reasons, would towards the end advocate the belligerent turn of John Brown), I want to rationally and morally support Martin Luther King’s view. This is because I strongly believe that violence begets violence, and hatred more hatred, and the end of the cyclce can only be met with suffering, compassion and dignity. Also, those who passively resist are more equipped for collaboration with their former antagonists, once justice is restored, as demonstrated by Miné Okubo’s role in the formation of US citizenship after her artful denunciation of the internment camps.

Also, for me the undertone of arrogance undermines Malcolm X’s otherwise strong potential for leadership. The phrase “you’re not going to get it anyway” also shows some defeatism and lack of hope or imagination for alternatives.

To conclude, although I understand Malcolm X’s frustration, I also want to believe in the capacity for regeneration of multicultural America. History, however, is yet to prove that the civil rights movement permitted “to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood” as in the vision of Martin Luther King.

1.     contextualize the quotation and explain what you understand by it

2.     develop contrary and/or subsequent arguments

3.     establish relations with at least two other texts studied in class

4.     Express your opinion and justify it.

5.     Use sentence connectors to help you structure your commentary

6.     Mind the paragraphs

7.     Conclude. If possible, with a golden key.