"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)
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.
I couldn't paste my commentary here, so I'll leave the Google Docs link to my full text.
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/16k4ixhCrfoSMh6z-Z7anjx85ll0MVSBzPjfyjPzuuVs/edit?usp=sharing
— Rita Cunha, n.150913
The quotation is located to the end of Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech. This speech was uttered in parallel to the fillibustering that was taking place in the US senate in order to delay the Civil Rights Act, that ended up going on for 83 days.
ReplyDeleteWhat i understand by this quotation is that Malcolm X, acting as a frontman for black nationalists, is stating that they will join forces with anyone who is willing to claim and fight for the civil rights that African Americans should already have in the first place.
Secondly, that his stance on violence is that the black man should be prepared to die for his rights and, in doing so, to take down the white man who is preventing him of attaining these same rights ("reciprocity").
Furthermore, Malcolm X develops on integration and segregation, defining the "segregated district or community" as "a community in which people live, but outsiders control the politics and the economy of that community". Fighting against segregation, Malcolm rejects integration as well, expressing a wish for the black community to be in control of it's own economy, politics, banks and schools.
Indeed, this sort of non segregated separation might have been prosperous and emancipatory for the black community to establish a sense of control in regards to itself. I agree that the disadvantages of forceful integration might outweigh the positive aspects, seeing as it would aid in fragmenting as opposed to unifying the community.
However, what might be more controversial about this speech is the stressing of violent actions. Although Malcolm X states "nonviolent as long as the enemy is nonviolent, but violent when the enemy gets violent", he also conveys certainty in that the enemy will be violent, thus "we" will be violent.
In "Let America Be America Again" by Langston Hughes we can find similar ideas to "The Ballot or the Bullet". Both are linked in asserting that African Americans have never had the same freedoms or opportunities as other American citizens (or have even been considered as citizens), despite being responsible for generating wealth, through slave work, for the country that denies them liberty: "There's never been equality for me, /(...) And torn from Black Africa's strand I came/ To build a "homeland of the free." (Langston Hughes), "I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare. (...) You let the white man walk around here talking about how rich this country is, but you never stop to think how it got rich so quickly. It got rich because you made ir rich."
Malcolm Little or, more popularly known as Malcolm X was a black civil rights leader among African-Americans in the 60s. The citation above is an excerpt of Malcolm X's speech from 1964 which was delivered in Cleveland, Ohio.
ReplyDeleteThe speech happened merely a few months after JKS's assassination who was the first president to propose a civil rights bill. However, Dixiecrats (Southern Democrats who supported white racists) blocked the bill from being considered by the House of Representatives. This was necessary since a bill needs to be approved by the House of Representatives before being implemented.
In this particular part of the a hour long speech, Malcolm X firmly states he is willing to work with anyone, despite of race, who is invested in the civil rights or human rights, as Malcolm X describes it, movement. On the other hand, he goes against the norm by being very clear about violent encounters. Unlike Martin Luther King who was a pacifist, Malcolm X recognized his right to self-defense, unafraid to go against popular opinion.
Malcolm X was devoted to helping any kind of racial issues like the struggle to vote, to have economic power and to stopping segregation in schools. He seemed particularly interested in education issues and believed a segregated school system weakened children's minds.
Unfortunately, a lot of people would twist these statements to fit their narrative of black leaders hating whites. Malcolm X was not shy about getting violent if needed be which could serve as a contrary argument to his belief that civil rights equal human rights. In my opinion, Malcolm X had an incredibly realistic point of view of the world and I admire how straight-forward he was with his opinions, specially on violence. I find it saddeding that his rhetoric and speeches are not as popular as MLK's but I understand why, since he had more polarizing views.
Although Malcolm X had a more pessimistic point of view, one could say he and the very famous black poet, Langston Hughes, had similar goals. Both strived to make America a better country, a more free and inclusive land that would fit the dream land that it was supposed to be. In "Let America Be America Again" Hughes claims America was never the country it was meant to be and that he never felt free there ("I say it plain, America was never America to me,"). Similarly, Malcolm X says in the beginning of "The Ballot or the Bullet" that he does not consider himself an American. Instead, he calls himself a "victim of this American system" and sees "America through the eyes of the victim".
Another connection could be made with Toni Morrison whose work is known to be quite mature and graphic, narrating slaves' lifes in "Beloved" and exploring racial identity in her short story "Recitatif". A lot like the "enemy" Malcolm X describes, the main character in "Recitatif" has clear animosity with her white friend Roberta due to their social and economic differences.
- Ana Catarina Narciso nº150886