James Baldwin writes so beautifully and so incisively. He also writes quite densely, at least in this work of nonfiction (compared to the two novels I’ve read by him). His writing style made it a little hard to fully absorb and retain what he was saying. However, I was certainly able to take away how little has changed in the 60+ years since Baldwin published this. For example, he writes about how police officers’ treatment of Black individuals affected him: “. . . all police have by now, for me, becomes exactly the same . . . No doubt I am guilty of some injustice here . . . [but] I cannot risk assuming that the humanity of these people is more real to them than their uniforms. Most Negroes cannot risk assuming that the humanity of white people is more real to them than their color.”
That quote came from the second of two essays in the book. The first is a short one written to his nephew. The second is much longer, and a large part of it deals with how race intersects with religion. This culminates in his describing his meeting with Elijah Muhammad, leader of the Nation of Islam. Muhammad’s perspective was essentially that all white people are devils and that Allah will redeem Black Americans once they return to the “true faith” of Islam. Baldwin doesn’t agree, at least not completely, with Muhammad’s views, but he understands why other Black people did and the hope that they gained by believing Muhammad’s claims.
This is a highly quotable book that still rings true today in many ways. I think it might be easiest if I let some of the quotes do the talking for me:
- ” . . . a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be spineless.”
- “I no longer had any illusions about what an education could do for me; I had already encountered too many college-graduate handymen.”
- “There are too many things [Americans] do not wish to know about ourselves. People are not, for example, terribly anxious to be equal (equal, after all, to what and to whom?) but they love the idea of being superior.”
This book seems as important today as it was back when it was written. While it may not always be the easiest of reads, cognitively or emotionally, it will leave you with plenty of food for thought, and I recommend it.