Hi Everyone,
We’re now on our last text, James Baldwin’s “Letter to My Nephew,” first published in 1962.
I know we began with a 1960s text and are ending with one; that was not the initial plan, but I think that both King’s letter and Baldwin’s letter speak to issues that are very present in our society today– as Garnet wisely pointed out in her LAF-award-winning piece, “Vibe Check: America.”
AFTER we finish this last reading (in about a week), my goal is for as many of us as possible to get together on Zoom for a wrap-up discussion and final review.
Instead of me doing a video here, I’m linking several important resources below. As you will see, Baldwin speaks best for himself.
Please read and annotate the text (also linked on the syllabus). Also, the actor and comedian Chris Rock did a reading of the text at Riverside Church, to which I recommend listening.
Background: Baldwin (1924-1987) was a novelist, essayist, playwright, and civil rights activist. He grew up in Harlem, for the most part, and then moved to Paris and became an expat. He returned to the United States during the Civil Rights Era, when he felt personal responsibility to fight for African American rights.
His life was explored in a stunning 2017 documentary, I Am Not Your Negro. If you have the chance to watch it and respond here with any thoughts, I strongly, strongly recommend it. We were supposed to watch this together as a class. It is on Netflix and Amazon Prime and Kanopy (which you have free access to as a CUNY student). Warning: there are photographs of serious violence (lynching).
Finally, I am also attaching a presentation I put together on Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose pivotal work from 2015, “Between the World and Me,” we were supposed to end the semester with. Coates is relevant here because he INHERITS Baldwin’s legacy. In “Between the World and Me” (which is both a shorter work published in The Atlantic magazine and a longer book), he writes a letter to his son Samori. He was greatly influenced by Baldwin in putting together this text. So in case anyone has the time and/or interest I invite you to read “Between.” You could post about it here and/or include it in your final project reflection. Here is my PPT presentation, for additional context and background: coates
Baldwin Discussion Questions (Answer 2 in a post; try to answer at least one question about the text itself)
1. Here is a brief bio video on Baldwin. What are some important ideas that come up here? (You can answer below.)
2. Baldwin was brilliant, and nowhere is his intellectual fire more clear than in his speech. Here is an important TV interview with Baldwin. What is this debate about? What is the professor’s position, and how does Baldwin respond? Whom do you find most compelling/convincing? Why?
3. Baldwin writes his text in the epistolary form. What do you think is his intention in doing this?
4. Choose one important quote that stood out to you. Copy and paste and explain what Baldwin is saying, and why the words resonated with you.
5. Zero in on one major theme in Baldwin’s letter. Elaborate on it, with supporting examples from his text.
6. How does this letter compare/contrast with King’s “Letter to Birmingham Jail?”
7. If you have the chance to read Coates’ text, in what ways do Baldwin’s and Coates’s visions overlap, and how do they depart from one another?
8. If you have the chance to watch the “I Am Not Your Negro” documentary, what scenes did you find most powerful? Why?
9. Who are the “countrymen?” Why does Baldwin use this word?
10. “… it is not permissible that the authors of devastation should also be innocent. It is the innocence which constitutes the crime.” What does Baldwin mean here?
11. Can Baldwin’s words be applied to the pandemic in any way?
After we get a batch of posts we’ll do a roundup discussion and review.
Thoughts on Baldwin and “A Letter to My Nephew” (Answering 2, 4, 11, and unintentionally, 6)
In the Dick Cavett interview, Yale philosophy professor Paul Weiss brings about the perspective that countless of people of color, specifically black people, have heard so many times before: “Why are you making it about race?” Weiss states that to bunch white people into the same group of “hatred” or “racism” is unfair and incorrect on Baldwin’s point because there are so many other ways to categorize people and that he [Baldwin] has a lot more in common with white people than he thinks if they look past the labels of race. Baldwin’s response is simple: Weiss’ perspective is an ideal. A good one, yes, but it is not the reality of the world black people faced at the time. Baldwin eloquently goes on to say that he doesn’t know how specific white people, corporations, institutions, etc. feel about him and the rest of the black population personally, however, he knows the ghettos, the schools, the unions, that clearly bar up obstacles and enforce inequality/fail to do anything about the inequality. That reality is clear as day in his experience and he will base his stance on said reality as opposed to the ideal Weiss paints instead.
“Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure, does not testify to your inferiority, but to their inhumanity and fear.” Baldwin is trying to say to his nephew that the racism and prejudice and hatred he will be faced with is not his fault. I think back to Dr. King’s letter in which he talked about how black girls and boys form negative perceptions of themselves at such a young age because of the racism they’re exposed to. It is easy to blame yourself. Baldwin says it’s not because they are truly inferior or have something to be ashamed of, but because others let their fear trigger inhumane thoughts and actions and that is their fault, not his nephews. Baldwin is putting the responsibility upon white people. I think this really resonated with me not because of what he said (which I agree with) but the way he said it specifically. He could have phrased it in many other ways like blatantly saying, “It’s their fault.” However, there is an incredible amount of care of this phrase that not only genuinely seeks to protect the point of identity he’s trying to convey onto his nephew but in that same tone also doesn’t hold back from specifically pinpointing what racism is and what it stems from: inhumanity and fear. So simple.
“Great men have done great things here and will again and we can make America what America must become.” This line stood out to me because it made me think of the article “The America We Need” that was posted the other day and I like this line because it’s not wishful thinking. It’s not what America can become but must. It’s a matter of will rather than want. It sounds like what Dr. King was saying in his letter when he stated that his criticism of America was not because he didn’t care for or didn’t believe in America, but because he loved this country so much that he wanted it to be in line with the dream it was founded on. The NYT article speaks to the idea that this is a dark hour in America’s history. The fault lines in the socioeconomic systems of our country get deeper and wider with every day of this pandemic. Add that to a weak, inefficient leader, and we could be seeing a future even more cracked and damaged. However, we could also emerge stronger, and push for the America that must become of this crisis in which we come to terms with the reality of our situation instead of shifting the responsibility away with, “Why can’t we just focus on the ideal?” The ideal is a great goal but we must do the great things that those great men have done and shake the foundations for a better future.
1. One of the most important ideas that come up in this video is racism. James Baldwin’s books were very political and spoke in criticism against the racism that black people had faced during his time. This was a big concern at the time considering the civil’s rights movements and its many participants. If black people wanted to make a difference in the world they would have to fight and show that they are demanding of fair treatment. Most, if not any tool of spreading this message through the streets of America was helpful to their cause. The use of communicating that through books is a considerably powerful way to convey the message of the inequality and racism in society. James’ book that tells the tale of his life as a black man during those times was important because it can help to really put into perspective what he has gone through and what others of his kind also may go through. Understanding these things are important to helping people understand one another
9. The “countrymen” are James’ fellow American citizens. James uses that word to identify who is responsible for the oppression and crimes as well as to differentiate himself from them. He is speaking against these people and does not fully associate himself with them. He is adamant on specifying who he is calling out.
Jared,
Thanks for your wise thoughts here. The “countrymen” are indeed fellow citizens, and to be even more direct, they are not citizens of color. They are presumably white, and unaffected by the terror Baldwin chronicles.
1. One of the most important ideas that come up in this video is racism. James Baldwin’s books were very political and spoke in criticism against the racism that black people had faced during his time. This was a big concern at the time considering the civil’s rights movements and its many participants. If black people wanted to make a difference in the world they would have to fight and show that they are demanding of fair treatment. Most, if not any tool of spreading this message through the streets of America was helpful to their cause. The use of communicating that through books is a considerably powerful way to convey the message of the inequality and racism in society. James’ book that tells the tale of his life as a black man during those times was important because it can help to really put into perspective what he has gone through and what others of his kind also may go through. Understanding these things are important to helping people understand one another
9. The “countrymen” are James’ fellow American citizens. James uses that word to identify who is responsible for the oppression and crimes as well as to differentiate himself from them. He is speaking against these people and does not fully associate himself with them. He is adamant on specifying who he is calling out.
The quote that stood out to me the most was, “They are in effect still trapped in a history which they do not understand and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.”
Explaining racism is difficult. It is difficult because the idea of discriminating someone based on the color of their skin they were born with, is not only illogical but just a hard concept to understand. A four year old once asked me why she wasn’t going to school on MLK day, and I remembered blanking out as I had no idea where to even begin explaining racism, something that feels very unreal and absurd, something I myself also find very hard to understand. At one point while writing my essay on King’s letter in birmingham jail, I also made an attempt to answer that very question, of the origins of racism. I had written: the barbaric act of slave trade gave white men a false belief of superiority and even when the slavery was eventually abolished, white men could not stand the equal rights African Americans were finally granted on paper.
That was my take on racism, but I eventually ended up taking this sentence out of my essay, as the sentence sounded somewhat messy and I didn’t know how to clean up this sentence. So when I read Baldwin’s sentence, I was amazed by his ability to concisely deliver the message, just in one phrase, “still trapped in history.” In that same sentence, he also laments the fact that how the changes won’t come so easy. This one sentence had so much packed in it, just like poetry.
I recently came across two pictures of NYPD handing out masks to white people violating the social diestancing rules in the park, while arresting people of color for violating the social distancing rule. The fact that only 7% of those who were arrested for violating the social diestancing rules was white and the fact that they were uncertain whether they would include information about race and ethnicity when asked to release the demographic data on arrests and summonses for social-distancing offenses? It is both sad and unbelievable.
It is almost funny how easy it is to be trapped in history. When you are young and know nothing better, you believe what you are told and see is the truth. As you grow up, anything that you are not accustomed to seeing and hearing will feel wrong. But it is also equally sad how easy it is to be released from history. All it takes is to ask why, because asking why is the key to understanding anything. Why was more than a third of the arrests made in a predominantly black neighborhood? Yet none in a more white neighborhood? At the end, it comes down to racism, and it can’t go any further than that because it cannot be explained.
Heeyoun,
Very smart comment that points to the master rhetorician Baldwin was, and also makes a strong connection to the world in which we live today.
America’s racial politics seem to play out in every aspect of society, and the disparity is even more dire during this pandemic.
I liked what you said about Baldwin’s quote on “being trapped in history”. I think when I was younger I would always ask why we had to study history; it was all in the past. The older I got the more I realized that we are way closer to the state of what we consider “the past” than many think we are.
‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ George Santayana, 1905
A Letter to My Nephew
By James Baldwin
James Baldwin was a man who was waiting for the “real freedom” to happen in America, reason why he decided to move to Europe. Something that our country still struggles with is the word Freedom, we have been witnessed of protest of people who fight for this. This letter is remembrance of what all the countrymen in history has not done. Why after hundreds of years we are still talking about racism, freedom, and segregation. But that is not all, now we are living in a country were words like illegally, undocumented are part of racism too.
I believe Baldwin decide to write this letter instead to write any other type of publication because racism is a matter that impact generations. Baldwin mentions that he grew up in this scenario and his nephew will grow up in the same reality. The quote that more chocked me is “This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish” and “You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity and in as many ways as possible that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence. You were expected to make peace with mediocrity.” How pathetic a society can be thinking that the color of the skin determines how successful in life a person would be. Baldwin refers as innocent country but at the same time is mention that innocence is the basis of crime. As long as people don’t understand that all are equal and we are part of an equilibrium, never will be a real freedom.
I agree with the point that part of Baldwin’s letter was dedicated to future generations because this kind of prejudice does not just stop at one. “You were expected to make peace with mediocrity.” That is a very powerful line.