Malcolm X- -The Ballot or the Bullet-

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1、Malcolm X: The Ballot or the Bullet Mr. Moderator, Brother Lomax, brothers and sisters, friends and enemies: I just cant believe everyone in here is a friend, and I dont want to leave anybody out. The question tonight, as I understand it, is The Negro Revolt, and Where Do We Go From Here? or What Ne

2、xt? In my little humble way of understanding it, it points toward either the ballot or the bullet.Before we try and explain what is meant by the ballot or the bullet, I would like to clarify something concerning myself. Im still a Muslim; my religion is still Islam. Thats my personal belief. Just as

3、 Adam Clayton Powell is a Christian minister who heads the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York, but at the same time takes part in the political struggles to try and bring about rights to the black people in this country; and Dr. Martin Luther King is a Christian minister down in Atlanta, Georgia,

4、 who heads another organization fighting for the civil rights of black people in this country; and Reverend Galamison, I guess youve heard of him, is another Christian minister in New York who has been deeply involved in the school boycotts to eliminate segregated education; well, I myself am a mini

5、ster, not a Christian minister, but a Muslim minister; and I believe in action on all fronts by whatever means necessary.Although Im still a Muslim, Im not here tonight to discuss my religion. Im not here to try and change your religion. Im not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about,

6、 because its 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 youre a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether youre educated or illiterate,

7、whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, youre going to catch hell just like I am. Were 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

8、 the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man.Now in speaking like this, it doesnt mean that were anti-white, but it does mean were anti-exploitation, were anti-degradation, were anti-oppression. And if the white man doesnt

9、want us to be anti-him, let him stop oppressing and exploiting and degrading us. Whether we are Christians or Muslims or nationalists or agnostics or atheists, we must first learn to forget our differences. If we have differences, let us differ in the closet; when we come out in front, let us not ha

10、ve anything to argue about until we get finished arguing with the man. If the late President Kennedy could get together with Khrushchev and exchange some wheat, we certainly have more in common with each other than Kennedy and Khrushchev had with each other.If we dont do something real soon, I think

11、 youll have to agree that were going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. Its one or the other in 1964. It isnt that time is running out - time has run out!1964 threatens to be the most explosive year America has ever witnessed. The most explosive year. Why? Its also a political year

12、. Its the year when all of the white politicians will be back in the so-called Negro community jiving you and me for some votes. The year when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community with their false promises, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their tric

13、kery and their treachery, with their false promises which they dont intend to keep. As they nourish these dissatisfactions, it can only lead to one thing, an explosion; and now we have the type of black man on the scene in America today - Im sorry, Brother Lomax - who just doesnt intend to turn the

14、other cheek any longer.Dont let anybody tell you anything about the odds are against you. If they draft you, they send you to Korea and make you face 800 million Chinese. If you can be brave over there, you can be brave right here. These odds arent as great as those odds. And if you fight here, you

15、will at least know what youre fighting for.Im not a politician, not even a student of politics; in fact, Im not a student of much of anything. Im not a Democrat. Im not a Republican, and I dont even consider myself an American. If you and I were Americans, thered be no problem. Those Honkies that ju

16、st got off the boat, theyre already Americans; Polacks are already Americans; the Italian refugees are already Americans. Everything that came out of Europe, every blue-eyed thing, is already an American. And as long as you and I have been over here, we arent Americans yet.Well, I am one who doesnt

17、believe in deluding myself. Im not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesnt make you a diner, unless you eat some of whats on that plate. Being here in America doesnt make you an American. Being born here in America

18、doesnt make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldnt need any legislation; you wouldnt need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldnt be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, , right now. They dont have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an Am

19、erican.No, Im not an American. Im one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, Im not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or

20、a flag-waver - no, not I. Im speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I dont see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.These 22 million victims are waking up. Their eyes are coming open. Theyre beginning to see what they used to only l

21、ook at. Theyre becoming politically mature. They are realizing that there are new political trends from coast to coast. As they see these new political trends, its possible for them to see that every time theres an election the races are so close that they have to have a recount. They had to recount

22、 in Massachusetts to see who was going to be governor, it was so close. It was the same way in Rhode Island, in Minnesota, and in many other parts of the country. And the same with Kennedy and Nixon when they ran for president. It was so close they had to count all over again. Well, what does this m

23、ean? It means that when white people are evenly divided, and black people have a bloc of votes of their own, it is left up to them to determine whos going to sit in the White House and whos going to be in the dog house.lt. was the black mans vote that put the present administration in Washington, Yo

24、ur vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in Washington, , that has seen fit to pass every kind of legislation imaginable, saving you until last, then filibustering on top of that. And your and my leaders have the audacity to run around clapping their han

25、ds and talk about how much progress were making. And what a good president we have. If he wasnt good in Texas, he sure cant be good in Washington, Because Texas is a lynch state. It is in the same breath as Mississippi, no different; only they lynch you in Texas with a Texas accent and lynch you in

26、Mississippi with a Mississippi accent. And these Negro leaders have the audacity to go and have some coffee in the White House with a Texan, a Southern cracker - thats all he is - and then come out and tell you and me that hes going to be better for us because, since hes from the South, he knows how

27、 to deal with the Southerners. What kind of logic is that? Let Eastland be president, hes from the South too. He should be better able to deal with them than Johnson.In this present administration they have in the House of Representatives 257 Democrats to only 177 Republicans. They control two-third

28、s of the House vote. Why cant they pass something that will help you and me? In the Senate, there are 67 senators who are of the Democratic Party. Only 33 of them are Republicans. Why, the Democrats have got the government sewed up, and youre the one who sewed it up for them. And what have they give

29、n you for it? Four years in office, and just now getting around to some civil-rights legislation. Just now, after everything else is gone, out of the way, theyre going to sit down now and play with you all summer long - the same old giant con game that they call filibuster. All those are in cahoots

30、together. Dont you ever think theyre not in cahoots together, for the man that is heading the civil-rights filibuster is a man from Georgia named Richard Russell. When Johnson became president, the first man he asked for when he got back to Washington, , was Dicky - thats how tight they are. Thats h

31、is boy, thats his pal, thats his buddy. But theyre playing that old con game. One of them makes believe hes for you, and hes got it fixed where the other one is so tight against you, he never has to keep his promise.So its time in 1964 to wake up. And when you see them coming up with that kind of co

32、nspiracy, let them know your eyes are open. And let them know you - something else thats wide open too. Its got to be the ballot or the bullet. The ballot or the bullet. If youre afraid to use an expression like that, you should get on out of the country; you should get back in the cotton patch; you

33、 should get back in the alley. They get all the Negro vote, and after they get it, the Negro gets nothing in return. All they did when they got to Washington was give a few big Negroes big jobs. Those big Negroes didnt need big jobs, they already had jobs. Thats camouflage, thats trickery, thats tre

34、achery, window-dressing. Im not trying to knock out the Democrats for the Republicans. Well get to them in a minute. But it is true; you put the Democrats first and the Democrats put you last.Look at it the way it is. What alibis do they use, since they control Congress and the Senate? What alibi do

35、 they use when you and I ask, Well, when are you going to keep your promise? They blame the Dixiecrats. What is a Dixiecrat? A Democrat. A Dixiecrat is nothing but a Democrat in disguise. The titular head of the Democrats is also the head of the Dixiecrats, because the Dixiecrats are a part of the D

36、emocratic Party. The Democrats have never kicked the Dixiecrats out of the party. The Dixiecrats bolted themselves once, but the Democrats didnt put them out. Imagine, these lowdown Southern segregationists put the Northern Democrats down. But the Northern Democrats have never put the Dixiecrats dow

37、n. No, look at that thing the way it is. They have got a con game going on, a political con game, and you and I are in the middle. Its time for you and me to wake up and start looking at it like it is, and trying to understand it like it is; and then we can deal with it like it is.The Dixiecrats in

38、Washington, , control the key committees that run the government. The only reason the Dixiecrats control these committees is because they have seniority. The only reason they have seniority is because they come from states where Negroes cant vote. This is not even a government thats based on democra

39、cy. lt. is not a government that is made up of representatives of the people. Half of the people in the South cant even vote. Eastland is not even supposed to be in Washington. Half of the senators and congressmen who occupy these key positions in Washington, , are there illegally, are there unconst

40、itutionally.I was in Washington, , a week ago Thursday, when they were debating whether or not they should let the bill come onto the floor. And in the back of the room where the Senate meets, theres a huge map of the United States, and on that map it shows the location of Negroes throughout the cou

41、ntry. And it shows that the Southern section of the country, the states that are most heavily concentrated with Negroes, are the ones that have senators and congressmen standing up filibustering and doing all other kinds of trickery to keep the Negro from being able to vote. This is pitiful. But its

42、 not pitiful for us any longer; its actually pitiful for the white man, because soon now, as the Negro awakens a little more and sees the vise that hes in, sees the bag that hes in, sees the real game that hes in, then the Negros going to develop a new tactic.These senators and congressmen actually

43、violate the constitutional amendments that guarantee the people of that particular state or county the right to vote. And the Constitution itself has within it the machinery to expel any representative from a state where the voting rights of the people are violated. You dont even need new legislatio

44、n. Any person in Congress right now, who is there from a state or a district where the voting rights of the people are violated, that particular person should be expelled from Congress. And when you expel him, youve removed one of the obstacles in the path of any real meaningful legislation in this

45、country. In fact, when you expel them, you dont need new legislation, because they will be replaced by black representatives from counties and districts where the black man is in the majority, not in the minority.If the black man in these Southern states had his full voting rights, the key Dixiecrat

46、s in Washington, D. C., which means the key Democrats in Washington, , would lose their seats. The Democratic Party itself would lose its power. It would cease to be powerful as a party. When you see the amount of power that would be lost by the Democratic Party if it were to lose the Dixiecrat wing

47、, or branch, or element, you can see where its against the interests of the Democrats to give voting rights to Negroes in states where the Democrats have been in complete power and authority ever since the Civil War. You just cant belong to that Party without analyzing it.I say again, Im not anti-De

48、mocrat, Im not anti-Republican, Im not anti-anything. Im just questioning their sincerity, and some of the strategy that theyve been using on our people by promising them promises that they dont intend to keep. When you keep the Democrats in power, youre keeping the Dixiecrats in power. I doubt that

49、 my good Brother Lomax will deny that. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for a Dixiecrat. Thats why, in 1964, its time now for you and me to become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for; what were supposed to get when we cast a ballot; and that if we dont cast a ballot, its going

50、to end up in a situation where were going to have to cast a bullet. Its either a ballot or a bullet.In the North, they do it a different way. They have a system thats known as gerrymandering, whatever that means. It means when Negroes become too heavily concentrated in a certain area, and begin to g

51、ain too much political power, the white man comes along and changes the district lines. You may say, Why do you keep saying white man? Because its the white man who does it. I havent ever seen any Negro changing any lines. They dont let him get near the line. Its the white man who does this. And usu

52、ally, its the white man who grins at you the most, and pats you on the back, and is supposed to be your friend. He may be friendly, but hes not your friend.So, what Im trying to impress upon you, in essence, is this: You and I in America are faced not with a segregationist conspiracy, were faced wit

53、h a government conspiracy. Everyone whos filibustering is a senator - thats the government. Everyone whos finagling in Washington, , is a congressman - thats the government. You dont have anybody putting blocks in your path but people who are a part of the government. The same government that you go

54、 abroad to fight for and die for is the government that is in a conspiracy to deprive you of your voting rights, deprive you of your economic opportunities, deprive you of decent housing, deprive you of decent education. You dont need to go to the employer alone, it is the government itself, the gov

55、ernment of America, that is responsible for the oppression and exploitation and degradation of black people in this country. And you should drop it in their lap. This government has failed the Negro. This so-called democracy has failed the Negro. And all these white liberals have definitely failed t

56、he Negro.So, where do we go from here? First, we need some friends. We need some new allies. The entire civil-rights struggle needs a new interpretation, a broader interpretation. We need to look at this civil-rights thing from another angle - from the inside as well as from the outside. To those of

57、 us whose philosophy is black nationalism, the only way you can get involved in the civil-rights struggle is give it a new interpretation. That old interpretation excluded us. It kept us out. So, were giving a new interpretation to the civil-rights struggle, an interpretation that will enable us to

58、come into it, take part in it. And these handkerchief-heads who have been dillydallying and pussy footing and compromising - we dont intend to let them pussyfoot and dillydally and compromise any longer.How can you thank a man for giving you whats already yours? How then can you thank him for giving

59、 you only part of whats already yours? You havent even made progress, if whats being given to you, you should have had already. Thats not progress. And I love my Brother Lomax, the way he pointed out were right back where we were in 1954. Were not even as far up as we were in 1954. Were behind where

60、 we were in 1954. Theres more segregation now than there was in 1954. Theres more racial animosity, more racial hatred, more racial violence today in 1964, than there was in 1954. Where is the progress?And now youre facing a situation where the young Negros coming up. They dont want to hear that tur

61、n the-other-cheek stuff, no. In Jacksonville, those were teenagers, they were throwing Molotov cocktails. Negroes have never done that before. But it shows you theres a new deal coming in. Theres new thinking coming in. Theres new strategy coming in. Itll be Molotov cocktails this month, hand grenad

62、es next month, and something else next month. Itll be ballots, or itll be bullets. Itll be liberty, or it will be death. The only difference about this kind of death - itll be reciprocal. You know what is meant by reciprocal? Thats one of Brother Lomaxs words. I stole it from him. I dont usually dea

63、l with those big words because I dont usually deal with big people. I deal with small people. I find you can get a whole lot of small people and whip hell out of a whole lot of big people. They havent got anything to lose, and theyve got every thing to gain. And theyll let you know in a minute: It t

64、akes two to tango; when I go, you go.The black nationalists, those whose philosophy is black nationalism, in bringing about this new interpretation of the entire meaning of civil rights, look upon it as meaning, as Brother Lomax has pointed out, equality of opportunity. Well, were justified in seeki

65、ng civil rights, if it means equality of opportunity, because all were doing there is trying to collect for our investment. Our mothers and fathers invested sweat and blood. Three hundred and ten years we worked in this country without a dime in return - I mean without a dime in return. 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 quick. It got rich because you made it rich.You take the people who