Malcolm X And Lyndon B. Johnson True Term Paper

Malcolm X and Lyndon B. Johnson

True and real equality of the African-American race: Opposing views from Malcolm X and Lyndon B. Johnson

In the history of the Negro's struggle to fight for his/her civil rights, two important political figures became prominent in advancing the Negro community's cause for equality and abolition of racial prejudice and discrimination: Malcolm X and former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Each political figure advocated for opposing sides of the civil rights movement, yet both had contributed to the development and promotion of giving equal opportunities for Negros, not only in socially, but also legally through the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Indeed, the passage and implementation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 had been the primary contention in which Malcolm X and Johnson had argued for equality between the white and black Americans in all aspects of life. In promoting their respective views of this new legislation, both had created speeches that brought into fore the "fantasy theme" -- that is, putting forth their arguments on what strategy would best benefit the Negros in achieving equality and eliminating social prejudice and discrimination in the society.

The rhetorical analysis applied in this paper delves into identifying how Malcolm X and Johnson addressed the issue (or fantasy theme) of racial equality in their speeches, "The Ballot or the Bullet" and "We Shall Overcome," respectively.The paper posits that each had opposing views about the achievement of racial equality: while Malcolm X that Negros had not truly achieved equality and can only do so if they resort to violence, Johnson believed that the passage of the Voting Rights Act would signal the true emancipation of Negros from racial prejudice and discrimination.

In Malcolm X's "The ballot or the bullet," he enticed his audience, his fellow Negros, to resort to violence in order to express their opposition against the oppressive nature of the Voting Rights bill and present social state of racial equality in American society. Contrary to positive assessments of the gradual decrease in incidences of racial prejudice and discrimination, Malcolm X revealed that this was hardly the case in reality. As he stated in his speech, "Your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in Washington, D. C ....And what a good president we have. If he wasn't good in Texas, he sure can't be good in Washington, D.C. Because Texas is a lynch state. It is in the same breath as Mississippi, no different..."

What Malcolm X tried to express to his audience was that the Voting Rights bill was just a ruse that the administration had created in….....