READING CONNECTIONS
Malcolm X - The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X
In the "Ballot or the Bullet" speech by Malcolm X, Malcolm talks about how until we become “politically mature”, we will be mislead, deceived or maneuvered into supporting someone who does not have the good of the black community at heart.
This connects directly to institutional racism because by voting for people who do not have blacks best interests at heart, allows institutional racism to further itself and keep the racial constructs in order, which are responsible for depriving blacks of the countries main ideologies. These are the main ideologies that form Americanism.
For example, There is a huge gap in quality of education among races (particularly black vs. white) as described in the “Knowledge is Power” page. And until we have a group of politically strong people from our community, who have no ties or allegiance to whites and can make the changes in our education system to favor blacks as much as white, we won’t see change but a cycle that will repeat itself.
As Malcolm suggests, because these people we vote for do not have the interest of our community at heart, they will not make any political or policy changes that help break the bonds of institutional racism. In fact, they may create policies and constructs to further the cause.
Malcolm X also goes on to talk about Americanism. He argues that we have not seen america through the eyes of people who have enjoyed the fruits of americanism, but through the eyes of ones who are victims of americanism.
So what does Malcolm mean by “Americanism” and how does it connect to Institutional Racism in the New Millennium?
Americanism is often a term used to imply the characteristics or ideals of the United States. These characteristics are what appeals most to people who are not citizens of the U.S. It can also be what causes some to envy the U.S as a nation. These ideals/characteristics are things such as: self-government(Democracy), equal opportunity, freedom of speech, and belief in progress. These are the main characteristics that form Americanism.
Although these are “liberties” of America and are intended for all citizens, there are forms of racism that takes place, which leads to institutional racism. Even though we are granted “equal opportunity” by our constitution, their are constructs that specifically interfere with the equality of opportunity amongst races, particularly blacks. Our country has institutions such as departments in our U.S government(Department of Education, Department of Justice, etc) which are responsible for furthering or protecting Americanism.
However, there are people who are in charge of making policy for our country that have their own agenda and ideological beliefs at the forefront. These ideologies and beliefs are often only for the good of whites or a particular race in general, which in terms becomes Institutional racism as we know it.
We also have people in institutions such as Universities, who may chose upon their conscious to not allow a student into the University because they are black. This can also be politically defined as De Facto Discrimination. This ultimately leads to less opportunities for blacks in order to keep them superior to another race.
Malcolm argues that Blacks should control their own communities (mainly the politics and the economy) and until this happens, we will always see some forms of institution racism. This directly supports the fact that institutional racism still exits todays and also correlates to the reason it still exits.
You can listen to the full Malcolm X - The Ballot or the Bullet speech below.
This connects directly to institutional racism because by voting for people who do not have blacks best interests at heart, allows institutional racism to further itself and keep the racial constructs in order, which are responsible for depriving blacks of the countries main ideologies. These are the main ideologies that form Americanism.
For example, There is a huge gap in quality of education among races (particularly black vs. white) as described in the “Knowledge is Power” page. And until we have a group of politically strong people from our community, who have no ties or allegiance to whites and can make the changes in our education system to favor blacks as much as white, we won’t see change but a cycle that will repeat itself.
As Malcolm suggests, because these people we vote for do not have the interest of our community at heart, they will not make any political or policy changes that help break the bonds of institutional racism. In fact, they may create policies and constructs to further the cause.
Malcolm X also goes on to talk about Americanism. He argues that we have not seen america through the eyes of people who have enjoyed the fruits of americanism, but through the eyes of ones who are victims of americanism.
So what does Malcolm mean by “Americanism” and how does it connect to Institutional Racism in the New Millennium?
Americanism is often a term used to imply the characteristics or ideals of the United States. These characteristics are what appeals most to people who are not citizens of the U.S. It can also be what causes some to envy the U.S as a nation. These ideals/characteristics are things such as: self-government(Democracy), equal opportunity, freedom of speech, and belief in progress. These are the main characteristics that form Americanism.
Although these are “liberties” of America and are intended for all citizens, there are forms of racism that takes place, which leads to institutional racism. Even though we are granted “equal opportunity” by our constitution, their are constructs that specifically interfere with the equality of opportunity amongst races, particularly blacks. Our country has institutions such as departments in our U.S government(Department of Education, Department of Justice, etc) which are responsible for furthering or protecting Americanism.
However, there are people who are in charge of making policy for our country that have their own agenda and ideological beliefs at the forefront. These ideologies and beliefs are often only for the good of whites or a particular race in general, which in terms becomes Institutional racism as we know it.
We also have people in institutions such as Universities, who may chose upon their conscious to not allow a student into the University because they are black. This can also be politically defined as De Facto Discrimination. This ultimately leads to less opportunities for blacks in order to keep them superior to another race.
Malcolm argues that Blacks should control their own communities (mainly the politics and the economy) and until this happens, we will always see some forms of institution racism. This directly supports the fact that institutional racism still exits todays and also correlates to the reason it still exits.
You can listen to the full Malcolm X - The Ballot or the Bullet speech below.