Discipline and Defiance: The Art of Black Expression

 Imani Coleman

Dr. Harris
ENGL2016-44378
01 December 2025

Discipline and Defiance: The Art of Black Expression

Throughout history black people have dealt with oppression from slavery and the after effects of it. Then even when freed still dealt with injustice and an immense pressure to conform to white norms. But, even till this day strides are made through language and vast other means of expression. This essay focuses on the binary opposition of respectability and rebellion when it came to expressing African American mistreatment in history. The main point being how the contrast of these two sides put the perfect mix of tension and pressure on white people to see African Americans true identity instead of forcing respectability politics

To be able to express oneself freely is so important because it builds how people view you on all levels. So to be forced into a bubble different than one’s own effectively limits any sort of “new” expression or cultural norms. This was apparent with how hard white people historically tried to limit black peoples expression and have them be suppressed or hidden in their identity. For example, in James Baldwin’s If Black English Isn’t a Language he argues that language is the most powerful form of identity a community or culture can have (Baldwin). He explains that it goes back centuries with black people being denied original languages, which led to a new black english being made as a way to survive, communicate, and show their day-to-day reality. Then, because it carried the realities of their life, using it openly was a quiet but effective form of rebellion against the pressure of sounding white. This all leads back to the point of how controlling someone’s language or expression means controlling that person, and that gaining free expression lets one reclaim their identity.

When trying to understand the link between respectability and rebellious-shaped expression’s success, it helps to look at two major examples. The first being W.E.B. Du Bois vs. Booker T. Washington and the second being Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcolm X. These two pairs reflected the same end goal of black empowerment but vastly different strategies. And furthermore, the level of fame they gained while taking their own approaches showed how each strategy was beneficial if played the right way. Ultimately, they all helped their causes gain more momentum even with the extreme differences they possesed. All the way from the 16th century when the slave trade started up into the early 19th century, the United States used legal, social, and economic means to restrict African American growth. Even after slavery, black people had to face segregation laws, tests to prevent voting access, decreased access to education, and racial violence used to enforce racial hierarchy by groups like the KKK in daily life. These actions weren’t just meant to limit rights, they were attempts to control every part of black life, including their culture and ways of expression. One person who was a prime example of this was W.E.B. Du Bois early on in his career. He wrote about a “double consciousness” in The Souls of Black Folk (Du Bois), where he discussed the conflict between expressing yourself and managing how society sees blackness. This pushed black people to adopt the “respectable” persona, suppressing their more vivid traits to instead seem more educated, composed, and careful. Respectability politics encouraged conforming to white norms as a way to gain safety or be accepted, but by doing so it made black speech, culture, and ideals even more undesirable. This tension didn’t disappear though, it persisted up until the Civil Rights Movement through many figures, with one famously being Martin Luther King Jr. MLK was a great example of how to practice respectability without budging on his true values. He led by peaceful example, with nonviolent protest to show that black people were just as human as white people. His methods relied on dignity, discipline, and careful presentation to reform harmful stereotypes put on black people. In Hartmann’s journal The Sociological Quarterly, he claims, “King’s nonviolent activism was deeply connected to respectability politics, emphasizing dignity, restraint, and moral discipline as tools for racial uplift” (Hartmann). This demonstrates how King created a new public narrative for African Americans, and it had such an effect that people advocate it to this day. He turned what was a narrative of black people being less than into one of the injustices of white people against blacks. This wasn’t easy though, he had his house bombed in 1956, got stabbed in the chest in 1958, dealt with various forms of police brutality, and met his untimely end being assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. He somehow managed to operate through all of this and produce many well known works still referenced to this day, such as his speech “I Have a Dream,” where he was quoted saying, “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline” (King). Through this approach, King helped shape a version of black expression that used respectability as a strategic tool, elevating the movement and making racial injustice impossible to ignore.

As powerful as Du Bois and King made the respectable image, there were also those who forced change through less calm means. These people were on the rebellious side of expression for reform. Two examples of this were Booker T. Washington, who was quietly rebellious and Malcolm X, who took a loud stance. Rebellion in black expression meant rejecting the norms white people tried to force on black people instead of assimilating to them. Booker T. Washington was somewhat seen as a respectable expressionist, but behind the scenes he rebelled tirelessly. He did things such as funding legal fights on segregation and helped raise funding for Tuskegee Institute to start an economic and political institute that was independent. These types of acts behind the scenes helped push movements for decades as it made something that was successfully ours. He was quoted in Up from Slavery saying, “Character, not circumstances, makes the man” (Washington) because he believed that moral strength was an important way to resist white pressures. This ended in economic and educational growth for black people even while being subjected to discrimination. Washington’s approach, while subtle, directly challenged white oppression and set an example for other black people to follow in rebellion. Malcolm X, while on the same rebellious side, was much more direct in his stand against injustice. His stand was the opposite of MLK, with him being vocal that black people had the right to defend themselves. While both wanted black empowerment, Malcolm X was quoted as saying progress must be achieved “by any means necessary” (Malcolm X), directly contrasting MLK’s restrained approach and the idea of softening black anger to comfort white audiences. He instead argued in his speech Message to the Grassroots that “You don’t have a peaceful revolution. You don’t have a turn-the-other-cheek revolution” (Malcolm X) to demonstrate that progress was going to be made one way or the other, regardless of the pushback they experienced. His lack of filter when exposing the violence of white supremacy and pushing black pride ended with him as a symbol of rebellious expression. Then, just like MLK, his reign came to an end due to an assassination  that was yet another attempt to silence a black force that only ended in the flames being fueled.

All together the respectable strategies of Du Bois/King and the rebellious approaches of Washington/Malcolm X fed off each other to make both movements stronger. Respectability made progress at the cost of dampening their true identity but helped dismantle harmful stereotypes. Meanwhile, rebellion exposed the harsh reality of racism and placed the issue front and center, even if it sometimes risked damaging how black people were viewed. The tension from both created pressure on white society by showing black dignity while also showcasing their defiance. This made it so that America had to address its contradictions or face backlash, along with appearing unjust when retaliating against respectable expressionists. Without respectability, the movement would have lacked the moral force it needed, but without rebellion it would have lacked urgency. Through both approaches working at the same time, it elevated black people as a whole and helped shape their expression, cultural identity, and the continuing fight for equality.

Works Cited

Baldwin, James. “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” The New York Times, 29 July 1979.

Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk. A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903.

Hartmann, Douglas. “The Struggle for the Soul of Martin Luther King, Jr.” The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 2, 2003.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” U.S. National Archives, 28 Aug. 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Malcolm X. “Message to the Grassroots.” Detroit, Michigan, 10 Nov. 1963.

Malcolm X. “By Any Means Necessary.” Speech at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, 28 June 1964.

Washington, Booker T. Up from Slavery. Doubleday, Page & Co., 1901.