The Ballot or the Bullet: Rhetorical Analysis
- Melchior Antoine
- Oct 7
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 9
The rhetorical devices in Malcom X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech mostly rely on repetitive rhetorical devices and the concept of ethos, where he appeals to as wide a cross-section of African-Americans as possible. Malcolm X delivered his "The Ballot or the Bullet" speech in April 1964, where he encouraged African Americans to exercise their political power through strategic voting and even advocated for the use of political violence where necessary for self-defense.
This was in stark contrast to the “I Have a Dream Speech” by MLK, who believed in relying entirely on non-violent political means. The key themes of the speech include Black unity, where Malcolm X encouraged Black leaders and communities to put aside their religious and political differences to focus on the end goal of attaining greater political power and human rights in the U.S.A.
A further distinction between MLK and Malcolm X was the use of vernacular. X relied heavily on using vernacular for his speech, unlike MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which was defined by use of high diction and very formal English language patterns.
One could say that “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech was not as well-written or full of poetic devices as MLK’s “I Have a Dream.” However, it was effective in laying out a no-nonsense and pragmatic plan for strategic action and voting when it came to promoting the interests of African Americans at the time.
However, the first few passages of the speech are full of instances of X deftly using rhetorical devices, especially repetitive rhetorical devices to get his point across. In this article, we take an in-depth look at how he does so.
Who was Malcolm X’s audience in The Ballot or the Bullet Speech?
Malcolm X’s main audience is African Americans, and the speech was delivered on two occasions — 1. at first, on April 3, 1964 (at the Cory Methodist Church, Cleveland, Ohio) and 2. April 12, 1964 (King Solomon Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan). The speech occurred at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, when African Americans were fighting for equal rights and treatment as White Americans.
The fact that the speech was almost entirely directed toward African Americans may help explain its two main prominent features. The first is its reliance on vernacular, and the second is its emphasis on national and political unity among the various groups of African Americans, who were divided by religion and political affiliations or beliefs.
Malcolm X, in this speech, relied mostly on the rhetorical concept of ethos, that is, emotional appeal. MLK also relied on ethos in his “I Have a Dream” speech. However, the appeals were different in terms of the nature of the appeal. Malcolm X sought to unite Black people against a common enemy, namely, regressive White politicians and their White supporters.
On the other hand, Dr. Martin Luther King appealed to a White audience in trying to convince them that Black civil rights were in line with the traditional equality ideal that America is typically associated with. Below is an example of Malcolm clearly making a distinction between White interests and Black interests:
Although I'm still a Muslim, I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. I'm not here to try and change your religion. I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it's time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem, a problem that will make you catch hell whether you're a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether you're educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you're going to catch hell just like I am. We're all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man. All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man.
Malcolm X even goes as far as arguing in favor of prosecuting the United States for the violation of African American rights in the United Nations and allying with foreign countries like Africa and China in the process. In addition to this clear demarcation between White and Black interests, he also uses vernacular. This can be seen in phrases like “you’re going to catch hell.” The speech is also unambiguous in its support for political violence for self-defense, another marked contrast to MLK. Even the title of the speech makes that clear, with the ominous cacophony created by the "b" and "t" consonant sounds that feature in it.
As mentioned earlier, X relies heavily on repetitive rhetorical devices, ranging from simple repetition to more complicated examples of repetition such as anaphora and epistrophe. In the passage just quoted, for example, he ends with repetition at the end by repeating “at the hands of the white man” three times consecutively at the end of three clauses.
The table below provides a list of rhetorical devices throughout the speech:
Rhetorical Device | Definition | Example |
Repetition at the start | I'm not here tonight to discuss my religion. I'm not here to try and change your religion. I'm not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about . . . | |
Repetition at the end | All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man. | |
Repetition at the beginning and end, with a small change in the middle | Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American. | |
When the same language is used at the end of one sentence or clause and at the beginning of the next. | . . . a common problem, a problem that will make you catch hell whether you're a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. | |
Repetition of the root with a different ending. | It isn't that time is running out — time has run out! |
Structure-based rhetorical devices
Malcolm X also uses structure-based rhetorical devices throughout the speech. These are devices that work by maintaining, enhancing, or changing the normal structure of a phrase, sentence, or utterance. For example, isocolon is the main feature of the structure-based devices that he uses.
This is a device that maintains a parallel structure for phrases or sentences that are in succession. Such a device can be contrasted with chiasmus, which repeats elements but reverses their structure. The table below provides definitions and examples of these devices.
Rhetorical Device | Definition | Example |
Words, phrases, or sentences arranged in parallel structure | . . . it does mean we're anti-exploitation, we're anti-degradation, we're anti-oppression. | |
Repeating elements with their structure reversed | No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. | |
Using extra conjunctions | Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences. | |
Leaving out conjunctions | but it does mean we're anti-exploitation, we're anti-degradation, we're anti-oppression. |
Dramatic rhetorical devices
Dramatic rhetorical devices are those devices that focus on encouraging the audience to participate or at least make a show of allowing the audience to participate. The most famous example would be erotema or rhetorical questions. Erotema gives the audience the impression that the speaker is engaging them in the speech.
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Considering the conversational nature of the speech, Malcolm makes heavy use of such devices. The table below shows a list of them and examples:
Rhetorical device | Definition | Example |
Saying things without saying them | If he waits too long, brothers and sisters, he will be responsible for letting a condition develop in this country which will create a climate that will bring seeds up out of the ground with vegetation on the end of them looking like something these people never dreamed of. | |
Rhetorical questions | How are you going to be nonviolent in Mississippi, as violent as you were in Korea? | |
Asking questions and answering them | Why does this government treat us so bad? Because we’re Black, and that’s the only reason. | |
Anticipating questions and meeting them. | Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t vote. But I’m saying you should vote for yourself. |
However, the most dramatic effect is reserved for the end of the speech, where X uses a combination of metaphor and praeteritio. Praeteritio refers to the art of saying something without saying it. Malcolm X uses it as a kind of not-so-subtle threat, promising Black political violence, which he describes as strange vegetation coming out of the earth. This is ironic as he calls directly and unambiguously for Black Americans to answer violence with violence throughout the speech. For example, after referencing the fact that the American Supreme Court has ruled against segregation, he says this:
Whenever you demonstrate against segregation, whether it is segregated education, segregated housing, or anything else, the law is on your side, and anyone who stands in the way is not the law any longer. They are breaking the law; they are not representatives of the law. Any time you demonstrate against segregation and a man has the audacity to put a police dog on you, kill that dog, kill him, I'm telling you, kill that dog. I say it, if they put me in jail tomorrow, kill that dog.
This is straightforward and even vulgar, with the “dog” here being a pun or play on words referencing both police dogs and police officers. However, in the last paragraph, the effect is even more menacing when he uses praeteritio to warn President Lyndon B. Johnson of the negative consequences of delaying civil rights legislation:
If he waits too long, brothers and sisters, he will be responsible for letting a condition develop in this country which will create a climate that will bring seeds up out of the ground with vegetation on the end of them looking like something these people never dreamed of.
Referring to the threat of political violence as strange and unnatural vegetation coming out of the earth to bear an awful fruit has a chilling and apocalyptic effect. In some ways, it is similar to MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which uses natural disasters as a metaphor for the crimes that Black Americans suffer and the righteous retribution that Americans will pay for racial injustices. For example, MLK makes reference to “storms of persecution” and "winds of police brutality.”
He also describes the righteous retribution as a subtle Biblical allusion to the Second Coming described in Isaiah 40:4 when he says that “every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight.”
Malcolm X, on the other hand, is more direct. His allusions are not Biblical. Instead, they are historical and slightly mocking and derisive of White Americans and politicians, pointing out the irony of White Americans being opposed to Black freedom, despite American history valuing the ideals of freedom.
He references the American patriot Patrick Henry when he says: “It'll be the ballot or the bullet. It'll be liberty or it'll be death.” This is a paraphrasing of the famous phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death,” from the 1775 speech by Patrick Henry advocating for Americans to fight for their independence against colonial Britain.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2025, October 07). The Ballot or the Bullet: Rhetorical Analysis . EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/the-ballot-or-the-bullet-rhetorical-analysis |
