The Fire Next Time Analysis

Racism and racial inequality was extremely prevalent in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. James Baldwin shows how racism can poison and make a person bitter in his essay “Notes of a Native Son”. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” also exposes the negative effects of racism, but he also writes about how to combat racism. Both texts show that the violence and hatred caused from racism form a cycle that never ends because hatred and violence keeps being fed into it. The actions of the characters in “Notes of a Native Son” can be explain by “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and when the two texts are paired together the racism that is shown in James Baldwin’s essay can be solved by the plan Dr. King proposes in his

His father had so much hatred towards white people that he just was an angry person. The hatred continued until the day his father died. After the death of his father, Baldwin was looking at the religious texts that his father had written. Previously, Baldwin had no emotional connection to the texts, but now, suddenly, they had meaing to Baldwin. While walking to burry his father, he began to notice the broken down streets and the mess that was made by both the whites and blacks. Although it hadn't always been clear to him before, he was now seeing the result of unequal treatment of blacks by whites. Because Baldwin knew blacks and whites should have been treated as equals, he understood where his father's anger had come from. Although it hadn't always been there, Baldwin realized that he was beginning to feel the same anger his dad had felt. Hatred, after all, wasn’t just a poison. It was something that helped him understand his father more and realize that he is now like his

The book begins with anecdotes about the defamation of black bodies by white people and by Christianity itself. When speaking about his adolescence, Baldwin writes that “Owing to the way I had been raised, the abrupt discomfort that all this aroused in me and the fact that I had no idea what my voice or my mind or my body was likely to do next caused me to consider myself one of the most depraved people on earth” (Baldwin 17). The platonized Christian tradition that Baldwin was a part of saw the body, and especially the black body, as a symbol of sin, and so the onset of puberty became a source of guilt because of its association with sexuality (Brown Douglas

In turn, it was clearly an insult toward Wright’s style and intentions in literature. Baldwin was certainly aware of Wright’s intentions as he was familiar with his work. Afterall, Wright was idol for many years. In Wright’s essay, “Blueprint for Negro Writing” it is evident that the essay is intended for a black audience. Wright is critiquing black writers for being too artistic. Instead, he implores them to be more political. His goal in writing is to make people aware of the social injustices occurring.

America the free, land of opportunity--but only if you fit a specific mold. Slaves, especially women, were certainly not included. Even after their emancipation, African Americans struggled with exclusion, whether it be direct, indirect, political, social or other. James Baldwin, an African American man, contrasts the types of oppression he, and others, have faced in “A Letter to my Nephew” , drawing parallels from slavery to the discrimination of the 60’s. He explains how many think blacks must assimilate into “white” culture, but, in reality, it must be those who think that way who must escape from the mentality of needing to assimilate. In the case African American women, they confront backlash from not assimilating into the ideal “white

The historical identity of the African American military experience is deeply rooted in the life and legacy of author Wallace Terry. His legacy has been immortalized in the scores of periodicals and columns he authored throughout his career. Well-read and well-traveled, he brought a balanced context to the field of journalism. To date, he is one of Black America’s greatest contributors to African American journalism. The climax of his career subsisted in the midst of national turmoil. During this time, African Americans were trying to define their Blackness and their humanity in a land where they were treated second class. Author Wallace Terry put in words the thoughts that spun through the minds of the African American community,

Baldwin wrote this letter at a time where his nephew was going through adolescence, a period where one leaves childhood and inches closer and closer to becoming an adult. Black children, especially males, are not afforded the same privilege of going through the period of making mistakes and growing that their white

For example, open Black support of harsh punishment and law enforcement may seem hypocritical because in reality these policies and practices contribute to mass incarceration of Blacks. Alexander clarifies that Black support is more complex than it appears and can be attributed to a combination of complicity and wanting better safety for their communities and families (Alexander, 2012, p.210). Alexander also offers a unique perspective throughout the entire book by explaining how the systems of slavery and oppression have affected White individuals and not merely in the form of privilege or the dismissal of White people as simply as racist individuals. I resonated with one particular section discussing the "White victims of racial caste" (Alexander, 2012, p.204); the author 's anecdote of a white woman falling in love with a Black man and due to miscegenation laws could not have children. I could relate to this story on a deeply personal level in that my own parents experienced extreme and countless hurdles due to their interracial relationship and having biracial

Throughout Baldwin’s essay, he encourages changes in education for blacks, but he does so using ethos and pathos. For example, he starts of

In the essay “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin, he expresses feelings of hate and despair towards his father. His father died when James was 19 years old from tuberculosis; it just so happens that his funeral was on the day of the Harlem Riot of 1943. Baldwin explains that his father isn’t fond of white people due to the racist past. He recalls a time when a white teacher brought him to a theater and that caused nothing but upset with his father, even though it was a kind act. Many events happened to Baldwin as a result of segregation, including a time where a waitress refused to serve him due to his skin color and Baldwin threw a pitcher of water at her. Throughout this essay James Baldwin uses characterization to show his father’s

In The Fire Next Time, author James Baldwin describes with graphic detail the struggles of the black community. “The whores and pimps and racketeers on the Avenue had become a personal menace…my friends began to drink and smoke, and embarked-at first avid, then groaning-on their sexual careers” (Baldwin 16). The African-American community is plagued with an economic problem; jobs and money have been cut off from the grasps of families, and desperate men have often turned to habits of drinking, gambling, and drug abuse. Even (insert however many years ago it was) years ago, black communities faced these problems. Baldwin’s friends turned to these habits because they were constantly oppressed, and had begun to seek outlets for their problems. His friends were now “…busy, as they put it, ‘fighting the man.’ ... unable to say what it was that oppressed them, except that they knew it was ‘the man’—the white man.”(Baldwin 18).

Baldwin uses an advanced vocabulary throughout the essay, but only uses slang terms when referring to African Americans. By using phrases like “But if I was a "nigger" in your eyes”, he shows the audience what the words culturally imply such as stupidity and ignorance. Since this is

The books A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines and Kindred by Octavia E. Butler are set in different time periods but you can see the theme of society and setting playing a huge role on a person’s identity. The book Kindred is set over many years in the eighteen hundreds and in nineteen seventy six. The book A Lesson Before Dying is set in the nineteen forties. In both of these books you can see how the character’s setting affects how they act. Two main motifs that show through during these time periods in that of slavery and racism. These two motifs can be seen throughout almost every chapter of each book.

Both James Baldwin and Melba Beals are well experienced in living in a society where whites are viewed as superior to people of color, and they both know how it felt to feel ashamed in their own skin. In Baldwins letter "My Dungeon Shook" he writes to his nephew about succeeding in such an unfair world. In Melba's "Warriors Don't Cry" she tells her harrowing experiences as she tries to pursue the integration of Central High School as a member of the Little Rock Nine. Melba's experiences and the unfair world Baldwin describes have many similarities and it shows how society's treatment of others can dramatically affect someone's

Upon rereading “The Fire Next Time”, I have gained a whole new understanding of the book and what James Baldwin was saying. What James had to say about black people having to be non-violent, about God and religion, and the difference in language when referring to white and/or black women.