Institutionalized Racism In I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin, author of “Many Thousands Gone” began the essay by introducing the hardship that the ‘Negro in America’ experienced when they tell their story. It is quite different from other stories that we hear of with happy endings. This story told by this African American is submerged in shadow and darkness. The African American is recognized through violence, rape, remote, injustice, statistics and slums. "The presence of African Americans in the predominantly white American society Baldwin likens to a "disease--cancer, perhaps, or tuberculosis--which must be checked, even though it cannot be cured." Even though the image of the African American have changed with time, the change is still not satisfying. In this essay, Baldwin elaborates on what it means for a person to be a native son. He also shed more light on the identity of individuals and the factors that shape these identities, especially being a black American in the world of the white people.

During the mid-twentieth century African Americans were at the lowermost tier of society's hierarchy. However within the black race, there was a further social division between lighter-skinned and darker-skinned African Americans. A black individual with more Caucasian features signified high status and beauty which was sought after by members of the African American community (Dibleck). In Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author uses Janie Crawford to depict how colorism affected African Americans on both sides of the skin color spectrum. By demonstrating the attitude society (mostly men) had towards skin color, the author displays the realities of being an African American in the early 1900s and the deep

On one hand James Baldwin is addressing his letter to his nephew, but on the other hand the text is also applicable to the entire black community who is oppressed by society; and to the whites who need to recognize the need for equality. Baldwin addresses the letter to the teenager, James, and additionally descriptively clarifies how this deadly situation applies to many dark-skinned men. Contrastingly, the novelist realizes how the privileged population will hear this message as well, which Baldwin makes clear when he metaphorically states, “I hear the chorus of the innocents screaming, ‘No! This is not true! How bitter you are!’”(Baldwin

James Baldwin was a prominent African American writer, social critic, and racial justice advocate in the 1960’s and 70’s. In his 1963 Talk to Teachers he aimed to persuade an audience of teachers that education must exist to challenge systems and structures of power and that when it does not, it only serves to reinforce them and amplify their injustice. He specifically focuses on racial hierarchies and white supremacy in the United States. He achieves his persuasive purpose through the strategic use of first, second, and third person pronouns and the use of evocative language, and emphasizes the actionability of his message with anaphora.

Throughout history, many people have been oppressed because of their race, religion and gender, resulting in the loss of their rights and freedom. Despite the fact that freedom is an inherent rights of any human being, many examples have proven that these rights often require rebellious acts to obtain said rights. Although human rights have evolved over the years, humans still fail to learn from their mistakes, resulting in history repeating itself. Through storytelling and novels, people show depictions of history to honour those who have died and to educate younger generations to prevent unfortunate events from occurring again. In this same vein, Lawrence Hill and Alice Walker display oppression through abuse, structural inequality and gender stereotypes. Although the novels, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill and The Colour Purple by Alice Walker were written in different time periods and revolved around different cultural influences, each demonstrates the theme of oppression throughout various events.

Baldwin determines that violence and racial separatism are not acceptable solutions for achieving “power”. Baldwin believes that black people will only be able to achieve lasting influence in America if they love and accept white people. In contrast, writing 52 years after Baldwin, Coats tells his own son to “struggle” but not

James Baldwin in “Notes of a Native Son” writes about the death of his father and his struggle in America during segregation. He also reveals that he didn’t have a very good relationship with his ill father. Throughout the essay there is a repetition of bitterness. Also, Baldwin’s experiences reveal his purpose for writing the essay. One passage that is especially revealing is on page 222 which says, “When he died I had been away from home for a little over a year. In that year I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father’s bitter warnings, had discovered the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage: I had discovered the weight of white people in the world. I saw that this had been for my ancestors and now would be for me an awful thing to live with and that the bitterness which had helped to kill my father could also kill me.” This passage reveals how Baldwin’s relationship with his father, and his father’s warnings help demonstrate how hatred can cause negative effects on African Americans.

King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discusses the topic of segregation and just and unjust laws, whereas Baldwin in his “Notes of a Native Son” places an emphasis on relationships, particularly the relationship between his father and him. Additionally, Baldwin discusses the impact of racism on the lives of African Americans during that time. Although these essays are dated back over fifty years ago; the topics discussed in them are still very common today.

Like Baldwin said in I Am Not Your Negro, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced” (2016) By this time in the novel, he recognizes that in order to truly make a difference he must resurface and face society as he is. In the final line of the novel, the narrator states, "Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" (Ellison 581). The concluding line is a reference back to the association of the narrator to every other Black person, instead of being seen as a unique individual.

This book starts off with a short letter written by the author to his fourteen years old nephew, James. The author, Baldwin, states in his letter how James has a similar personality like his father and his grandfather, by saying how strong willed and assertive manners he has, this helps him avoid looking weak and soft in front of the white people. Baldwin gives advice to James to not believe what the white people say or he calls them “countrymen.” He explains how the white society would call African Americans subhuman, this ultimately destroyed his father (James grandfather) and became a religious person. Baldwin strongly advices James not to become who religious person and fight for his own rights not for him but the sake of his future children.

I Am Not Your Negro I Am Not Your Negro is a documentary directed by Raoul Peck tries to conceive the unfinished manuscript of James Baldwin entitled Remember This House. The documentary gives an examination of American racism using the lyrical words of Baldwin, and a plethora of archival footage. This work touches on everything from violence against African American’s to their representation in Hollywood, while analyzing and assessing the connections between the lives and murders of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.

I Am Not Your Negro Introduction The black people have been the victim of white men violence for over 400 years, generations of them have been treated brutally but they have been fighting together for their civil rights. The award-winning documentary entitled I Am Not Your Negro presented a dark history of black-white conflict and intense relationship between the two. White supremacy is one of the reasons causing the so called the Negro Problem. The Negritude is to keep the black population united and it showed the progress of the development of black population.

Baldwin’s book could have been written today and the themes that he talked about in his book could have still applied to modern day life. Minorities are still placed in prison for unjust reasons and families struggle to get their loved ones out of the jail. It’s painful, because the system is designed to get them there, and money is required to save them by paying lawyers and bondspeople. The entire process is extremely painful and totally unfair to people like Tish. That’s what Baldwin’s book explores.

In Adam Mansbach’s Angry Black White Boy (ABWB), the protagonist, Macon Detornay, is a white male who is obsessed with black culture and angry with white Americans. Macon moved to New York City for college and began a crime spree of robbing white people who rode in his taxicab. The city of New York went on a search for the “black man” who was supposedly robbing these people. Eventually, Macon’s true skin color is revealed and he decides to use his newfound fame to discuss the evils of white people. Macon then founded the Race Traitor Project. This idea was for guilty white people and liberals to be a part of what he called a “Day of Apology,” in which white people were to apologize for the hundreds of years of oppression they put minorities through. The Day of Apology ended up causing a major riot, which led Macon to decide how committed he was to the Race Traitor Project. Adam Mansbach used ABWB as a means to shed light on institutional racism and what can be done to end it.

Surprisingly, I have not heard much about this movie, but the fact that this film was made using only the words of an unfinished James Baldwin writing for a book entitled Remember This House and that it was read by Samuel L. Jackson peaked my interest. The book was supposed to tell the story of America through the lives of his three murdered friends, well known civil-rights activists Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers. To begin, I had no idea about James Baldwin’s relationship with Malcolm X and Medgar Evers, so I appreciated the way this film gave me insight into that. Well, the only reason I know who Medgar Evers is was because he was assassinated in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi—the city where my mom was born and where she and her family currently live. I also grew up learning about Malcolm X in relation to Martin Luther King Jr. while James Baldwin was also mentioned for his role during the Harlem Renaissance. It was really interesting to me to learn that James Baldwin was friends with them considering their initial political differences in their approach to fighting for equal rights and their thoughts about an end to segregation. Nevertheless, one of the main things I realized after watching this film and taking this course, in general, was that a lot of the struggles African Americans had to go through 50, 100, 200 years ago are still around today. I never thought that racism went away when Obama was elected President,