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Compare And Contrast The Prologue To Showdown And The Notes Of A Native Son

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Although slavery ended, technically African Americans were still not free, and Thurgood Marshall, a prominent lawyer, played a key role in bringing back these rights to African Americans. Before Marshall took action, African Americans were undervalued, even though the Civil War was over, and President Lincoln had already established the Emancipation Proclamation. Though the U.S. acknowledged that all African Americans are free, not all white people were able to accept this fact and continued to commit racist actions. The prologue to Showdown by Wil Haygood and the Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin both illustrate that the injustice and unfair treatment African Americans underwent was a result of their limited rights in society.
The Notes …show more content…

Baldwin 's father suffered psychological problems as he lived for a long time in the segregated community. Some problems they encountered while they were living in the north were the lack of jobs offered, and limited positions in high paying businesses.
Although Baldwin 's father presented himself as a proud African American, inside he was filled with insecurities and humiliation. There were several communication barriers that Baldwin fathers faced. 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. QUOTE
When Baldwin 's father was in his last days, he was laid off from work. That is when he realized that white people would do anything to keep a Negro down. He suffered from tuberculosis and had no psychological strength to overcome the

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As a black man growing up during the Jim Crow era, Baldwin was personally discriminated against. For a long time Baldwin held resentment against his father for the way he viewed society. In the end, however, Baldwin had adopted the same demeanor. In “Notes of a Native Son,” Baldwin had become resentful at society for the way it treated minorities negatively, just like his father.

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So this makes his real- life experience connect so closely to the story he had written. He experienced loss in real life along with in his story. In the story, the narrator had also lost his daughter to polo, although he didn’t exactly explain his feelings, he showed that it did affect him. Which makes me think that maybe Baldwin was the type of person to hide his feelings and act tough even though things affected him. He tried not to dwell on things, but realize that he can feel

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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.

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Baldwin’s solution for black people is for them to create their own identity and take a stab at achievement regardless of the social requirements or constraints set before them. For, “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger". I was fascinated by the comparison of “Letter to My Son” by Ta-Nahisi Coates to that of Baldwin’s. Although they both bring forward the same topics and issues faced by the black community, however they both do not view the problem in the same way, as far as proposing a solution is concerned. For example, Baldwin proposed a solution in which he urges the black community through his nephew to recognize the shameful acts of injustice in America, and express acceptance with love towards the whites even though they may not do the same in

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James Baldwin’s experience with man versus self-struggle is also prevalent in his career, just like Sonny’s and his music career. As a young man, James Baldwin struggled with his sexual orientation of homosexuality. Once Baldwin’s mother remarried to a preacher, Baldwin was raised in a religious household, which influenced him greatly. As a result, his beliefs and ideas wavered greatly. Donald Murray, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, constitutes that in response, “images of light and darkness are used by Baldwin to illustrate his theme of a man’s painful quest for an identity” (Murray

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He says rebelling will not change anything and all his nephew will need is patience. Throughout the letter, Baldwin states important information and many situations such as how African Americans were treated and how many of situations and elements were approached throughout that time period. Religion was a big part of Baldwin life and incorporated it through his hardships. The title of the letter written to his nephew also tied into how he felt during that time period. Through this short story, Baldwin and all the elements in the story identify a dilemma that the story conveys, and helps to illustrate and reinforce the issue that is going on during this

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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

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The following quote shows that Baldwin acknowledged that the position that his nephew is in is one that is not only familiar to him, but to his grandmother and those that came before her: "Now, my dear namesake, these innocent and well-meaning people, your countrymen, have caused you to be born under conditions not far removed from those described for us by Charles Dickens in the London of more than a hundred years ago… I know the conditions under which you were born for I was there. Your countrymen were not there and haven 't made it yet. Your grandmother was also there and no one has ever accused her of being

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His idiosyncrasy remains loving and understanding, even when his younger son returned home after many of been away with not a penny to his name. The young son showed disobedience to all the goodness his father had offered to him. The young son showed traits such as selfishness as well as being ungrateful. He had no worth for his father’s property nor did he want to work alongside his father on the family farm.

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