Rhetorical Analysis Of Malcolm X's The Ballot Or The Bullet

Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet is a speech about re educating the black community about their economics and separating the church from the civil rights movement. X relies heavily on Pathos, Logos, and Ethos throughout his speech. This rhetorical well-roundedness is a part of what made this speech so incredibly successful. Malcolm X started his speech with Ethos to establish his position and his ability to make this speech, he then used pathos to get the attention of the audience then backed up his own claims with Logos and logical reasoning. Malcolm X was not like other leaders in the civil rights movement. Others such as Martin Luther King Jr. relied heavily on the idea that nothing could be accomplished if violence was used to retaliate. Malcolm did not feel the same. Malcolm felt that black people should try and defend themselves from racism “by any means necessary”. (Biography.com Editors) Part of this willingness for violence can possibly be contributed to Malcolm X’s past. When Malcolm’s mother was still pregnant with him, his house was visited by The KKK and
Throughout his opening, Malcolm uses the word “us” to attempt to make his ability to relate to the struggles of every person in the audience very clear. This constant repetition of the word “us” is a great example of the rhetoric Ethos. Malcolm also uses his outward attempt to separate his religion from his work as a way to gain respect from the audience. Malcolm makes this clear by saying, “I’m not here to try and change your religion” (Malcolm X) directly after openly stating his belief system. In the first part of his speech, Malcolm X does not truly address any issues, instead he focuses on grouping every black american into a single group of sufferers who can all relate to each other. While doing this, Malcolm also successfully groups himself in with his entire audience and in doing so, earns the respect of every person