马尔科姆演讲稿：选票还是子弹 The Ballot or the Bullet
the ballot or the bullet
by malcolm x
日记格式怎么写图片 april 3, 1964
cleveland, ohio
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 next? 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 mylf. im still a muslim; my religion is still islam. thats my personal belief. just as 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 华夏第一村
about rights to the black people in this country; and dr. martin luther king is a christian minister down in atlanta, georgia, 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 gregated education; well, i mylf am a minister, 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, becau its time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first e 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, 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 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 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 clot; when we come out in front, let us not have 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 youll have to agree that were going to be forced either to u 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 witnesd. the most explosive year. why? its also a political year. 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 fal promis, building up our hopes for a letdown, with their trickery and their treachery, with their fal promis which they dont intend to keep. as they nourish the 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 other cheek any longer.
dont let anybody tell you anything about the odds are against you. if they draft you, they nd you to korea and make you face 800 million chine. if you can be brave over there, you can be brave right here. the odds arent as great as tho odds. and if you fight here, you 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 mylf an ame
rican. if you and i were americans, thered be no problem. tho honkies that just 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.
辛苦造句 well, i am one who doesnt believe in deluding mylf. im not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call mylf 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 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, d.c., right now. they dont have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a polack an american.
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, nothin
g but disguid hypocrisy. so, im not standing here speaking to you as an american, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver -- no, not i. im speaking as a victim of this american system. and i e america through the eyes of the victim. i dont e any american dream; i e an american nightmare.
自然奇景 the 22 million victims are waking up. their eyes are coming open. theyre beginning to e what they ud to only look at. theyre becoming politically mature. they are realizing that there are new political trends from coast to coast. as they e the new political trends, its possible for them to e that every time theres an election the races are so clo that they have to have a recount. they had to recount in massachutts to e who was going to be governor, it was so clo. 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 clo they had to count all over again. well, what does this mean? 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 hou and whos going to be in the dog hou.
lt. was the black mans vote that put the prent administration in washington, d.c. your vote, your dumb vote, your ignorant vote, your wasted vote put in an administration in washington, d.c., that has en 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 hands 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, d.c. becau 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 mississippi with a mississippi accent. and the negro leaders have the audacity to go and have some coffee in the white hou 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 becau, since hes from the south, he knows how 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. 武红军
in this prent administration they have in the hou of reprentatives 257 democrats
to only 177 republicans. they control two-thirds of the hou vote. why cant they pass something that will help you and me? in the nate, there are 67 nators who are of the democratic party. only 33 of them are republicans. why, the democrats have got the government wed up, and youre the one who wed it up for them. and what have they given you for it? four years in office, and just now getting around to some civil-rights legislation. just now, after everything el 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 tho are in cahoots 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 rusll. when johnson became president, the first man he asked for when he got back to washington, d.c., was dicky -- thats how tight they are. thats his 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 promi.
重庆夜网 so its time in 1964 to wake up. and when you e them coming up with that kind of con
spiracy, let them know your eyes are open. and let them know you -- something el thats wide open too. its got to be the ballot or the bullet. the ballot or the bullet. if youre afraid to u an expression like that, you should get on out of the country; you should get back in the cotton patch; you 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. tho big negroes didnt need big jobs, they already had jobs. thats camouflage, thats trickery, thats treachery, 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 u, since they control congress and the nate? what alibi do they u when you and i ask, well, when are you going to keep your promi? they blame the dixiecrats. what is a dixiecrat? a democrat. a dixiecrat is nothing but a democrat in disgui. the titular head of the democrats is also the head of the dixiecrats, becau the dixiecrats are a part of the democratic party. the democrats have never kicked the dixiecrats out of the party. the dixiecrats bolted themlves once, b
ut the democrats didnt put them out. imagine, the lowdown southern gregationists put the northern democrats down. but the northern democrats have never put the dixiecrats down. 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 washington, d.c., control the key committees that run the government. the only reason the dixiecrats control the committees is becau they have niority. the only reason they have niority is becau they come from states where negroes cant vote. this is not even a government thats bad on democracy. lt. is not a government that is made up of reprentatives of the people. half of the people in the south cant even vote. eastland is not even suppod to be in washington. half of the nators and congressmen who occupy the key positions in washington, d.c., are there illegally, are there unconstitutionally.
i was in washington, d.c., a week ago thursday, when they were debating whether or n
ot they should let the bill come onto the floor. and in the back of the room where the nate meets, theres a huge map of the united states, and on that map it shows the location of negroes throughout the country. and it shows that the southern ction of the country, the states that are most heavily concentrated with negroes, are the ones that have nators 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 not pitiful for us any longer; its actually pitiful for the white man, becau soon now, as the negro awakens a little more and es the vi that hes in, es the bag that hes in, es the real game that hes in, then the negros going to develop a new tactic.
the nators and congressmen actually violate the constitutional amendments that guarantee the people of that particular state or county the right to vote. and the constitution itlf has within it the machinery to expel any reprentative from a state where the voting rights of the people are violated. you dont even need new legislation. 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 country. in fact, when you expel them, you dont need new legislation, becau they will be replaced by black reprentatives from counties and districts where the black man is in the majority, not in the minority.
if the black man in the southern states had his full voting rights, the key dixiecrats in washington, d. c., which means the key democrats in washington, d.c., would lo their ats. the democratic party itlf would lo its power. it would cea to be powerful as a party. when you e the amount of power that would be lost by the democratic party if it were to lo the dixiecrat wing, or branch, or element, you can e 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-democrat, 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 promis that they dont intend to keep. when you keep the democrats
in power, youre keeping the dixiecrats in power. i doubt that 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 suppod to get when we cast a ballot; and that if we dont cast a ballot, its going 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 gain too much political power, the white man comes along and changes the district lines. you may say, why do you keep saying white man? becau its the white man who does it. i havent ever en any negro changing any lines. they dont let him get near the line. its the white man who does this. and usually, its the white man who grins at you the most, and pats you on the back, and is suppod to be your friend. he may be friendly, but hes not your friend.
so, what im trying to impress upon you, in esnce, is this: you and i in america are fac
ed not with a gregationist conspiracy, were faced with a government conspiracy. everyone whos filibustering is a nator -- thats the government. everyone whos finagling in washington, d.c., 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 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 itlf, the government 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 the white liberals have definitely failed the 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 t
he outside. to tho of us who 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 come into it, take part in it. and the handkerchief-heads who have been dillydallying and pussy footing and compromising -- we dont intend to let them pussyfoot and dillydally and compromi any longer.
how can you thank a man for giving you whats already yours? how then can you thank him for giving 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 we were in 1954. theres more gregation 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
下问hear that turn the-other-cheek stuff, no. in jacksonville, tho 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 grenades next month, and something el 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 deal with tho big words becau 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 lo, and theyve got every thing to gain. and theyll let you know in a minute: it takes two to tango; when i go, you go.
the black nationalists, tho who 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 eking civil rights, if it means equality of opportunity, becau all were doing there is trying to collect f
or 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 becau you made it rich.
you take the people who are in this audience right now. theyre poor. were all poor as individuals. our weekly salary individually amounts to hardly anything. but if you take the salary of everyone in here collectively, itll fill up a whole lot of baskets. its a lot of wealth. if you can collect the wages of just the people right here for a year, youll be rich -- richer than rich. when you look at it like that, think how rich uncle sam had to become, not with this handful, but millions of black people. your and my mother and father, who didnt work an eight-hour shift, but worked from cant e in the morning until cant e at night, and worked for nothing, making the white man rich, making uncle sam rich. this is our investment. this is our contribution, our blood.
not only did we give of our free labor, we gave of our blood. every time he had a call to arms, we were the first ones in uniform. we died on every battlefield the white man had. w
e have made a greater sacrifice than anybody whos standing up in america today. we have made a greater contribution and have collected less. civil rights, for tho of us who philosophy is black nationalism, means: give it to us now. dont wait for next year. give it to us yesterday, and thats not fast enough.
i might stop right here to point out one thing. whenever youre going after something that belongs to you, anyone whos depriving you of the right to have it is a criminal. understand that. whenever you are going after something that is yours, you are within your legal rights to lay claim to it. and anyone who puts forth any effort to deprive you of that which is yours, is breaking the law, is a criminal. and this was pointed out by the supreme court decision. it outlawed gregation.
which means gregation is against the law. which means a gregationist is breaking the law. a gregationist is a criminal. you cant label him as anything other than that. and when you demonstrate against gregation, the law is on your side. the supreme court is on your side.
now, who is it that oppos you in carrying out the law? the police department itlf. wit
付之一笑的意思h police dogs and clubs. whenever you demonstrate against gregation, whether it is gregated education, gregated housing, or anything el, 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 reprentatives of the law. any time you demonstrate against gregation and a man has the audacity to put a police dog on you, kill that dog, kill him, im telling you, kill that dog. i say it, if they put me in jail tomorrow, kill that dog. then youll put a stop to it. now, if the white people in here dont want to e that kind of action, get down and tell the mayor to tell the police department to pull the dogs in. thats all you have to do. if you dont do it, someone el will.
if you dont take this kind of stand, your little children will grow up and look at you and think shame. if you dont take an uncompromising stand, i dont mean go out and get violent; but at the same time you should never be nonviolent unless you run into some nonviolence. im nonviolent with tho who are nonviolent with me. but when you drop that violence on me, then youve made me go insane, and im not responsible for what i do. and thats the way every negro should get. any time you know youre within the law, wit
hin your legal rights, within your moral rights, in accord with justice, then die for what you believe in. but dont die alone. let your dying be reciprocal. this is what is meant by equality. whats good for the goo is good for the gander.
when we begin to get in this area, we need new friends, we need new allies. we need to expand the civil-rights struggle to a higher level -- to the level of human rights. whenever you are in a civil-rights struggle, whether you know it or not, you are confining yourlf to the jurisdiction of uncle sam. no one from the outside world can speak out in your behalf as long as your struggle is a civil-rights struggle. civil rights comes within the domestic affairs of this country. all of our african brothers and our asian brothers and our latin-american brothers cannot open their mouths and interfere in the domestic affairs of the united states. and as long as its civil rights, this comes under the jurisdiction of uncle sam.
but the united nations has whats known as the charter of human rights; it has a committee that deals in human rights. you may wonder why all of the atrocities that have been committed in africa and in hungary and in asia, and in latin america are brought bef
ore the un, and the negro problem is never brought before the un. this is part of the conspiracy. this old, tricky blue eyed liberal who is suppod to be your and my friend, suppod to be in our corner, suppod to be subsidizing our struggle, and suppod to be acting in the capacity of an advir, never tells you anything about human rights. they keep you wrapped up in civil rights. and you spend so much time barking up the civil-rights tree, you dont even know theres a human-rights tree on the same floor.
when you expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights, you can then take the ca of the black man in this country before the nations in the un. you can take it before the general asmbly. you can take uncle sam before a world court. but the only level you can do it on is the level of human rights. civil rights keeps you under his restrictions, under his jurisdiction. civil rights keeps you in his pocket. civil rights means youre asking uncle sam to treat you right. human rights are something you were born with. human rights are your god-given rights. human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. and any time any one violates your human rights, you can take them to the world court.
uncle sams hands are dripping with blood, dripping with the blood of the black man in this country. hes the earths number-one hypocrite. he has the audacity -- yes, he has -- imagine him posing as the leader of the free world. the free world! and you over here singing we shall overcome. expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights. take it into the united nations, where our african brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our asian brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our latin-american brothers can throw their weight on our side, and where 800 million chinamen are sitting there waiting to throw their weight on our side.
let the world know how bloody his hands are. let the world know the hypocrisy thats practiced over here. let it be the ballot or the bullet. let him know that it must be the ballot or the bullet.
