James Baldwin is an activist and writer that was born and raised in Harlem that stood for equality within the black community. Baldwin is the grandson of a former slave and was the oldest of nine children where he grew up in poverty. At the age of fourteen, he discovered his passion for writing and reading by his hobby was going to libraries. As year He published his first book in 1955 known as Notes of a Native Son. The novel Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin displays a collection of essays of where he critiques racism and examines the culture of Blacks in White America.
Are African Americans really abused? How bad is the issue of racism? He asks these questions, since he was blind for part of his life and could not tell whether or not someone was a person of color or white. His thesis is that he will see the effects of being an African American over time. This is not the case, as he realizes that the pigment of your skin effects the way people look at you instantly.
Throughout James Baldwin’s stories, such as “Sonny’s Blues”, “The Rockpile”, and “The Outing”, he uses classism, racism, sexism, and despair to express hardships throughout his life and others. The life of James Baldwin was very difficult since he lived during the Harlem Renaissance, 1920s. Being born as a gay black man without much money. Being black during the 1920s made you a target of hateful actions and thoughts. While being gay during the 1920s also made you a target for hate, even worse than for being black in some cases.
Poverty and deprivation were common within the Black community as the government did not offer them good jobs nor profit them in anyway. Malcolm X stated that after elections, the government employed a few Black individuals big jobs to make it seem like they cared however, they already had jobs and chose to not offer them to those living in poverty. According to Malcolm X, everyone in the room, despite having jobs was still not able to make enough money for their necessities. Only if everybody's cash was accumulated would it appear like there was a large amount of money. Consequently, it continued to keep the Whites superior to Blacks.
Suffering, is inevitable. However, suffering for a black American, is fueled by discrimination and oppression. While suffering often unites mankind, skin color has somehow managed to divide it. As evil transpires in our world, we begin to see our communities divide and organize themselves according to color, social class, and family values. These issues are presented in James Baldwin’s work, where he displays suffering, particularly for the blacks in America.
He was a bitter person who lacked the ability to establish contacts with other people. Just like any other father, he was trying to protect his children during that time. He suffered from paranoia. He constantly thought his family was trying to poison his food and everyone was against him. Due to the unfair and the injustice treatment African Americans underwent, Baldwin 's father always questioned whether or not he would ever be accepted into the white society.
Baldwin uses his father as an example of effect discrimination can have. He wishes he could discuss his own problems with his father He says, “When he was dead I realized that I hardly ever spoken to him. When he was dead a long time I began to wish I had.” He uses this theme as a way to discuss racial issues. James Baldwin and his family had no income coming to the household which created tension in the family. When James Baldwin told his mother that a white school teacher would be coming in their house, his father was very upset about it.
Crooks was not allowed to even live in the same place as the white men. Even though a lot has been done to stop the inequality of the races, there are new problems being faced. It is imperative that people around the world understand that there is still a lot of racial inequality that needs a resolution. Men of the nonwhite race were treated with great disrespect; for example, around the 1930s, when white men were out of work, the black men would be fired to make job openings for the white men (Race During the Great Depression). Even though a lot has changed since the 1930s, studies show that black people have a harder time obtaining a job
Throughout the entire letter, I feel Coates' disappointment; anger; and sadness. I feel that he wish he had another history to tell his son; to embrace some kind of hope in his son's future; to tell him that being black does not put his life in risk from being taken away. Coates knows that when his son soon or later will eventually start wondering about why he is being treated unfairly or different. He will begin to see the police brutality among his racial group; how many blacks of different ages get killed by the police just because they
Racial ethnic equality While the reality of racism as a way people chose to perceive things still remains to date, the choice to be or not to be is individual. Unlike other beliefs natured by natural laws, racism is indoctrinated in people’s minds in order to direct hatred on another group or ‘minority’. The racist mind chooses to absorb racist ideologies which then influence their thinking and identity. “Changes” by Tupac Shakur In his song Changes” Tupac Shakur addresses the many challenges African Americans face a s a people ranging from racism to struggles they endure in a racist world. Poverty as well as racial profiling which are associated with results f racism also comes out clearly in the song.