Lecture 11/26 & 11/28 (I Have a Dream & Malcolm X)

Question 1

“I Have a Dream”: An Oratorical Masterpiece

Answer 1

a. One of the great speeches in world history
i. Many Rhetorical experts say it is the best speech ever given

b. Full of metaphor, concrete language

c. Delivery is secular and religious
i. MLK was a preacher and a pastor
ii. Riven with language of the old testament, scriptural language
iii. Given like a sermon in that of a black Baptist church
iv. A lot of interaction

d. This speech is a capsule statement of the major statement of the non-violent civil rights movement

Question 2

Occasion for “I Have a Dream”: March on Washington, Aug 28, 1963

Answer 2

a. Unprecedented event
b. Hundreds of thousands came to the nation’s capital to hear
c. Interracial audience

Question 3

Audience for “I Have a Dream”

Answer 3

a. Marchers
i. Couple hundred thousand came to protest peacefully
1. Spread out across the stretch of the Washington monument

b. Radio and Television
i. First chance to see MLK up close
ii. Not the same coverage back then that we have today
iii. Everyone knew about King, but knew about him second or third hand

Question 4

Purpose of “I Have a Dream”

Answer 4

a. Inspire marchers and other supporters to continue efforts for civil rights

b. Identify core principles of civil rights movement
i. For both those in person and on TV
ii. Present principles in the most concise and clear way possible

Question 5

Content and Structure of “I Have a Dream”: Introduction

Answer 5

Happy to be in nation’s capital for what will be the “greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”

Question 6

Content and Structure of “I Have a Dream”: Address to the nation as a whole (2-8)

Answer 6

i. Both BTW and King address the audience in different sections

ii. Gap between American ideals & reality
1. Emancipation Proclamation
2. Constitution and Declaration of Independence (“promissory note”)
a. Nation has refused to offer
b. We have come to the nation’s capital to cash a check
i. For equal rights and the promises that are stated in the document

iii. Need for continued protest to close the gap
1. Show the gap that white people could not deny
2. Paragraph 7-8
a. This is not the time to engage in cooling off
b. “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges”

Question 7

Content and Structure of “I Have a Dream”: Address to the black community (9-13)

Answer 7

i. Maintain commitment to non-violence
1. Can’t bring about of moral ending with immoral methods

ii. Fate of the races is intertwined
1. They would rise or fall together
2. Opposed to racial separation
a. Separates him from Malcolm X

iii. Need for continued protest
iv. Keep the faith in a positive outcome

Question 8

Content and Structure of “I Have a Dream”: The Dream (14-20)

Answer 8

i. Not in prepared text
1. King diverted from the manuscript
2. Inspired in the moment to put in the Dream section

ii. Rooted in the American Dream
1. Deeply connected to different areas of the states

iii. Visual nature of MLK’s dream
1. King makes his dream starkly visual
2. Trying to draw the abstract principles with visuals for people to see and understand

iv. Optimism
1. Moving from a negative condition to a positive condition

Question 9

Content and Structure of “I Have a Dream”: Let Freedom Ring (21-25)

Answer 9

i. Voice merging with “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”
1. Example of voice merging and you would often hear it the sermons of black Baptist churches
2. Uses a secular song instead of a religious hymn

ii. National scope of MLK’s vision: North and South
1. Let freedom ring from the mountains of New York all the way to the stone mountains of Georgia

iii. When freedom rings throughout America, “All of God’s children,” of all races and religions, will be “free at last”
1. People of all races and religions will be able to join together

Question 10

Malcolm X as a Heroic Figure

Answer 10

a. Taken for granted today

b. Extremely controversial
i. Viewed as anti-white, radical, and violent
ii. Deeply opposed to the civil rights movement
1. Ridiculed non -violence and Dr. King
2. Opposed to integration of races

c. Not the tower figure that MLK was
i. Emerged as a heroic figure since his death

d. Didn’t move to popularity during his life time

e. Seen as a mainstream figure today
i. Him and King represents two-sides of the same coin

f. Him and King were almost exact contemporaries
i. Both born in the 1920’s
ii. Both assassinated in the 1960’s
1. Both 39 when they died
iii. Both left very different legacies

Question 11

Malcolm X as a Man of Words: Rhetorical Legacy

Answer 11

i. King left more than his words
1. Substantial and lasting effect on laws and institutions
a. Go back to the successes of the civil rights movement a couple lectures ago

ii. Nothing comparable to Malcolm X regarding material effects on society
1. Didn’t help pass laws
2. Didn’t break down any major barriers to African-Americans
a. Remained on the sidelines with regards to politics

iii. Malcolm did leave a massive rhetorical legacy
1. Impact on attitudes and institutions after his death
2. Rhetorical impact on the white community
a. Don’t think of that as his primary target
i. Primary audience was other African Americans
1. Wanted them to change the perceptions of themselves, white institutions, etc.
3. Had a big influence on young male African-Americans
a. Black Power movement
i. Patron Saint of the movement
b. He opened the eyes of Coates’ father

iv. “Malcolm X was the first black man from the ghettos in America to try and get the white man’s fist off the black man.”

Question 12

Malcolm X as a Man of Words: Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)

Answer 12

i. Helps change the perception of him as an extremist and a “black nationalist” to a more heroic figure
ii. Millions of copies sold in many languages across the world
iii. Became a required reading on many college campuses

iv. Takes readers inside Malcolm’s experience
1. Compelled to see the world through Malcolm’s eyes
a. Understand his suspicion of white people
b. Give a more sympathetic view of Malcom

Question 13

Malcolm X as a Man of Words: Malcolm’s speeches

Answer 13

i. Active for 13 years, don’t know how many speeches he had given

ii. Difference between King and X
1. King had a minster style, had elegant, philosophically informed language
a. Delivery was polished and showed optimism
2. X speeches represented agitational rhetoric
a. Message was highly critical
b. Delivery was visceral, angry, and spoke the language of the streets
c. Language was combative and uncompromising
i. In depictions of white people and black people
1. Thought that black people had been duped and tricked into the conditions of their lives and following the civil rights movement
ii. Hated the civil rights movement
1. The non-violence, thought it moved too slow
2. No nobility in non-violence

Question 14

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: A Note on Malcolm Little, 1925-1951

Answer 14

i. 1 of 8 kids in Omaha, Nebraska

ii. Father was a follower of Garvey and led of chapter of the UNIA
1. Malcolm was influence by his father and Garvey

iii. Father was killed in Lancing, Michigan
1. Murdered by whites
2. Mother committed to a mental institution
a. Because of husbands death and eight kid

iv. Malcolm was an excellent student
1. White teacher, in 8th grade, told him he couldn’t be a lawyer because he was black
a. Should turn to trade work
2. Turned to a life of crime
a. 3 weeks before his 21st birthday, he was sentenced to 8-10 years

Question 15

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: First phase: Nation of Islam minister (1952-1964): Conversion to Nation of Islam in Prison

Answer 15

1. Heard/Called the Black Muslims sometimes
2. Leader was Elijah Muhammed
   a. Didn’t actually follow the nation of Islam, but a redacted version of it
   b. All black people represented Allah, and perfection
   c. First people were black, so where did the white man come from
   i. Creation myth
3. Whites became the devil figure
4. Members pray to Mecca many times
   a. Couldn’t partake in promiscuous or poisonous behavior
5. Most members had come from lower/poor classes
   a. And many came from prison experiences
6. Conversion in real life different from film
   a. Came from his brother Reginald, converted because of his family
   b. Changed name to Malcolm X because this didn’t represent his slave name
   i. Nation of Islam required members to drop their slave names.

Question 16

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: First phase: Nation of Islam minister (1952-1964): Development of rhetorical skills

Answer 16

1. Copied the entire dictionary, word for word
   a. He said his vocabulary was limited, and thus his mind was limited
   b. Read deeply in prison with regard to the history of black people
   c. Became a debater
   i. Honed his public speaking skills
   ii. It was exhilarating to him to try and swaying people
   iii. Engaged in verbal combat, always wanting to win

Question 17

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: First phase: Nation of Islam minister (1952-1964): Growth of Nation of Islam

Answer 17

1. Raised temples in Boston, and Philadelphia, and landed in NY
2. In New York, only 1-1000 had heard of the Nation of Islam
3. Became the most important figure in the growth of the Nation of Islam
   a. Street corner orator in Harlem, drawing people in
   b. Preaching about racism and degraded position of African-Americans
   c. Convinced people to come and listen to his sermons at his temple
   i. Would speak to a handful of people, like the early agents of the abolitionist movements
   ii. Drove the growth of the Nation of Islam

Question 18

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: First phase: Nation of Islam minister (1952-1964): Split from Nation of Islam

Answer 18

1. Resentment grew from within the Nation of Islam against Malcolm because he was getting bigger
2. Elijah Muhammed had fathered a number of children from secretaries working for him
   a. Didn’t follow the moral principles of the Nation of Islam
   b. Elijah suspended him because of his comments on JFK assassination
   i. Chickens had come home to roost
3. White on black violence had happened so much that it claimed a white on white violence

Question 19

The Two Phases of Malcolm X’s Oratorical Career: Second Phase: Secular activist (1964-1965)

Answer 19

i. Creates Muslim Mosque, Inc.

ii. Journey to Mecca
1. April to May of 1964
2. Found the true form of the Islamic religion and how Elijah distorted it
3. Prayed with people of all color, began to change his views of whites, and thought that perhaps all whites weren’t inherently racist
a. Don’t know how much his ideas had changed, but maybe had come to a belief that people could change

iii. Organization for Afro-American Unity (OAAU)

iv. Assassination
1. Increasing threats against him from the Nation of Islam
2. Top-down said that Malcolm was dangerous and undermining to the Nation of Islam
3. House was fire-bombed
a. One week later, he was shot to death giving a speech