Monday, February 14, 2011

Example of partisan rhetoric being dangerous

Not all partisan rhetoric is as safe as we'd like it to be. Sometimes, when someone has a very strong view on a subject or has a very determined agenda, he/she can say things that could have very dangerous results. One example of this kind of dangerous partisan rhetoric is the civil rights activist Malcolm X. He had the same basic agenda as, say, Martin Luther King Jr., but he went about it in a very different way. His speeches often include talks of civil unrest and violence, such as this quote: "Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery." It's obvious that he's just trying to tell people (mainly black people in the context it was said) to stand up for themselves and make people regret disrespecting them, but it's obvious how it could be argued that Malcolm X incited more violence than was necessary, and that his partisan rhetoric proved to be very dangerous. Now the question is, did Malcolm X help more than he hurt?

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