Compare And Contrast Notes Of A Native Speaker

How do we cope with white America? James Baldwin and Eric Liu attempt to answer this question in individual essays. James Baldwin based his essay, “Notes of a Native Son,” on writing by W.E.B. Du Bois. Eric Liu’s essay, “Notes of a Native Speaker,” is a direct response to Baldwin’s writing. The two works delve into their personal experiences as people of color in the United States. Still, due to each author’s unique circumstances and different racial identities, the two essays are quite distinct. Utilizing different perspectives, Baldwin and Liu make similar points in their respective essays, because both of them discuss double consciousness and acceptance. However, Baldwin wished to address these topics through internal change, whereas Liu wanted to do this through external change.

Baldwin spends most of his essay describing the life of himself and his father. Throughout his writing, Baldwin

Then, Baldwin goes on to describe how spending time around white southerners changed how he perceived himself. This time caused Baldwin to become conscious of how white people viewed him, resulting in restlessness and paranoia. Liu became aware of how white people looked at him during his childhood. While recalling moments from his youth as a Chinese American, Liu noted that “ceremony, protocol, etiquette—all these made [him] feel like an awkward stranger. Things that came as second nature to many white kids were utterly exotic to [him].” Both Baldwin and Liu were extremely aware of white people’s perception of them as racial minorities. Their ability to see outside of themselves is what W.E.B. Du Bois would describe as double consciousness. Intertwined with the stories of their lives as people of color, Baldwin and Liu each make a point to describe