"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against"
About this Quote
There is a dare tucked inside Malcolm X's clean, almost austere phrasing: try to argue with this and you reveal yourself. "I'm for truth" and "I'm for justice" sound like civic wallpaper until he welds them to that destabilizing clause, "no matter who". He isn't praising neutrality; he's attacking the way America treats morality as a team sport, with truth outsourced to respectable messengers and justice rationed to respectable victims.
The repetition does two jobs. First, it strips the statement of wiggle room. No loopholes, no "complexities" that magically appear when power is uncomfortable. Second, it reframes allegiance. Malcolm X is often caricatured as a sectarian firebrand, but here he claims a higher loyalty than party, race, or institution: principles that do not ask for ID. The subtext is cutting: if you only recognize truth when it comes from the right mouth, you don't love truth - you love hierarchy.
Context sharpens the point. In mid-century America, "law and order" language was routinely used to sanctify unequal policing, unequal courts, unequal schools. Malcolm X understood that calls for patience and "proper channels" were frequently demands that the oppressed accept injustice politely. By insisting justice must apply "for or against", he also rejects the temptation of revenge as politics; he wants accountability, not merely reversal. It's a radical standard because it makes everyone vulnerable, including the speaker's own side.
The repetition does two jobs. First, it strips the statement of wiggle room. No loopholes, no "complexities" that magically appear when power is uncomfortable. Second, it reframes allegiance. Malcolm X is often caricatured as a sectarian firebrand, but here he claims a higher loyalty than party, race, or institution: principles that do not ask for ID. The subtext is cutting: if you only recognize truth when it comes from the right mouth, you don't love truth - you love hierarchy.
Context sharpens the point. In mid-century America, "law and order" language was routinely used to sanctify unequal policing, unequal courts, unequal schools. Malcolm X understood that calls for patience and "proper channels" were frequently demands that the oppressed accept injustice politely. By insisting justice must apply "for or against", he also rejects the temptation of revenge as politics; he wants accountability, not merely reversal. It's a radical standard because it makes everyone vulnerable, including the speaker's own side.
Quote Details
| Topic | Justice |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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