Members of the black community have long been oppressed in America. However in the early 1960's, many decided to band together and fight for their freedoms that have been denied to them. Malcolm X was one of many leaders in the movement, and he proclaimed that in response to white violence and oppression, a violent approach is the only remaining option. Instances of white violence were not uncommon in the early 1960's, an example is the bombing of the 16th street church in Birmingham, Alabama. In his speech "Message to the Grassroots" Malcolm X uses repetition, aggressive diction, and metaphors to strengthen his message that violence is the best option.

Malcolm X's use of repetition strengthens his position by stressing key portions of the speech. The first example of repetition in "Message to the Grassroots" comes when Malcolm X states:

"We have a common enemy. We have this in common: We have a common oppressor, a common exploiter, and a common discriminator. But once we all realize we have this is common, then we unite on the basis of what we have in common. And what we have foremost in common is that enemy-- the white man. He's an enemy to all of us. I know some of you all think that some of them aren't enemies. Time will tell."

By saying that the black community's enemy is the white man repeatedly, Malcolm X imprints the message on the reader's mind. In addition, he extends the word enemy to all white Americans. Now rather than some thinking that the police are the enemy or Congress is the enemy, the more moderate listeners are imprinted with the idea that all white people are the enemy. The second example of repetition occurs when Malcolm X references the Bandung Conference. The Bandung Conference took place in April of 1955, and consisted of twenty-nine nations, most of whom had recently been decolonized. The main goal of the conference was to discuss their newfound place in the world and their desire not to become pawns of the superpowers in the Cold War. Since colonization was usually an European or American power controlling a third world country, Malcolm X uses the Bandung Conference to say the white man is not just the black man's enemy. This is illustrated when he says "They realized all over the world where the dark man was being oppressed, he was being oppressed by the white man; where the dark man was being exploited, he was being exploited by the white man. So they got together under this basis  --  that they had a common enemy." Many people think of  the civil rights problem to be solely American; however, Malcolm X proves this to be false. Indians were oppressed through British rule, Philipines were oppressed through American rule, North Africa was oppressed through French rule. All of these are similar because it was the white man oppressing non-white nations. By putting the problem on a global scale and using the Bandung Conference, Malcolm shows that the enemy is not just the white man in the United States. Instead, he labels the white man across the globe as an enemy of all dark-skinned nations. He is able to do this due to repetition, by listing multiple dark-skinned nations that were colonized by the United States and European Powers Malcolm X imprints in the listener's mind that the white man was everyone's enemy.

Malcolm X also uses aggressive diction in "Message to the Grassroots" to strengthen his  position that only violence could end white oppression. Malcolm X uses aggressive diction straight from the beginning. He uses words like "bloody", "hostile", and "destroys everything" when addressing revolutions to fuel the fire, and turn more people away from the non-violent protests and join his bloody revolution. He wants black people across the world to see that Martin Luther King Jr.'s way of fighting has only made their situation worse. This is evident when he references the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. The bombing took place in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The terrorist attack was executed by four Ku Klux Klan members and claimed the lives of four teenage girls. Despite the sufficient evidence to convict these men, the first conviction was not until 1977. The other two (one man died in 1994 before being brought to trial) were convicted in 2001 and 2002. Malcolm X aggressively describes the reaction to the bombing in his speech "the Negroes in Birmingham  --  remember, they also exploded. They began to stab the crackers in the back and bust them up 'side their head  --  yes, they did." Malcolm X describes the violence in this way in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of his path. After the protests were ended by the national guard, Kennedy created the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. If he had simply said the black community was upset or angry, it would not of had the same effect saying they were stabbing and rioting. Malcolm X uses aggressive diction in "Message to the Grassroots" in hopes of stirring more people to violent protest since that is what caused President Kennedy to created the civil rights bill.

The final literary device used by Malcolm X is extended metaphor. Towards the end of his speech Malcolm X condemns the participation of white citizens in the march on Washington by comparing the march to coffee. Malcolm states:

 "It's just like when you've got some coffee that's too black, which means it's too strong. What you do? You integrate it with cream; you make it weak ...  This is what they did with the march on Washington."

Malcolm X even goes so far as to say this was planned by Martin Luther King Jr. and the other civil rights leaders, who were being controlled by the white man. He claimed through the metaphor that the integration of white citizens prevented a violent protest and made them seem weak. In addition, he claims it prevented the protest from reaching its full potential by shortening its lifespan. 

In order to strengthen his position that violence is the best path for the civil rights movement, Malcolm X uses repetition, aggressive diction, and extended metaphor in his speech "Message to the Grassroots." Repetition was used to ingrain the idea that the white man is the enemy of all dark skinned nations. Aggressive diction was used to push people towards a violent revolution rather than a peaceful protest with references to tragedies such as the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. Finally, extended metaphor was used to illustrate how white protesters weakened the march on Washington. In the end Martian Luther King Jr.'s peaceful protest may have won, but Malcolm X's viewpoint had widespread support and remains an important figure in the history of the Civil Rights Movement even after his assassination.

