The Ballot Or The Bullet Speech By Malcolm X

Since the emergence of the American country, Black Americans have been deemed as inferior beings that are incapable of attaining wealth, education, power, liberty, and freedom. From Black Americans being categorized as ⅗ of person to being denied housing loans, have been some of the many forms of systemic oppression used to dehumanize, desensitize, and humiliate the Black race. The foundation of the American country was built on white supremacy, bigotry, and racist ideals, concluding that no matter where a black individual was located within in America, they ran the risk of being subjected to racial discrimination and injustice. Throughout my experience of taking the African American Studies M5 - Social Organization of Black Communities, minister and human rights activist, Malcolm X, has intrigued me the most because he developed a thought-provoking and clever notion that accurately encompassed the entire African-American experience. In X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet Speech,” he states “If you black, you were born in jail, in the North as well as the South. Stop talking about the South,”
In every instance of my life, living in Atlanta, North Omaha, Las Vegas, and now, Los Angeles, I have been exposed to various forms of racial injustice and systematic oppression. In fact, to further highlight X’s point that racism runs rampant in every region of America, I have experienced the most extreme forms of racism in Los Angeles (a city perceived as extremely equal and liberal) than any other places I have lived in. During my first year moving to Los Angeles, I was called racial slurs by classmates, witnessed that there were an abundance of liquor store and cash loan stores primarily found in black and brown neighborhoods, and encountered a “black face”