“I would try to make him know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.”
I believe James Baldwin is talking about having a wider perspective about everything in our lives. He wants us to have an unbiased vision than being narrow or either black or white. He says that what is true for someone might not to be true for others, “the world is larger”. The world is larger than the world we live in, the world we see and the world that we are taught. He wants us to look for the answers that are never talked about. He wants us grow to look at the beautiful truths and also not denying terrible truths. I think he mean that we should not blindly accept everything and we have every right and power to examine the facts and establish our general sense and ability.
“The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity. What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society.”
James Baldwin highlights the necessity of quality and practical education. And points out that “little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. What he means is that we learn only the things that the society wants to teach us, their side of story is what we see and learn. Whereas the whole purpose of education is not force other’s opinions but to make a person who thinks in all dimensions. Where one has freedom to experiment with different things and ideas. Where education can guide him to take his own decisions and achieve his very own identify and not of anyone’s else.
“The Bible says somewhere that where there is no vision the people perish. I don’t think anyone can doubt that in this country today we are menaced – intolerably menaced – by a lack of vision.”
“But children are very different. Children, not yet aware that it is dangerous to look too deeply at anything, look at everything, look at each other, and draw their own conclusions. They don’t have the vocabulary to express what they see, and we, their elders, know how to intimidate them very easily and very soon.”
I strongly agree with Baldwin. As we children know nothing of the world outside. We constantly learn from our family and teachers (practically can be anyone). It is them who shape us and more or less our future too. A strong foundation makes a strong-willed person otherwise a person struggles with his identity. We are programmed to think in a particular way, designed to act in such a manner that we lack a vision, lack a sense of judgement. It is like what we do is what they (the society) want us to do, not want we actually want. We consciously or unconsciously follow the same standards in our society. Trying to run after success rather than knowledge. He says that we have obligation to learn more about everything. I won’t be wrong to say that we are never really taught about finance, how to invest or taxes or about law and governance in our school. Not even when we are young also when we are mature. We all struggle to understand these topics which are so really important then finding resultant force or torque about a point or those big integration or differentiation problem. Topics like these are also the momentum in our society just like Maths and Science. What I believe education gives us knowledge and vision, an ability to look at the world and question every phenomenon or reasons.
Brandon, your response is quite thoughtful and well-articulated! My only negative critique is the way you set it up. Annotations should be separate from the Baldwin response, and not all of your annotations have a response.