Down At The Cross By James Baldwin Essay

In the mid-1900s, James Baldwin’s work completely revolutionized the way Americans thought about social constructions such as race, religion, gender, and sexuality. Baldwin’s nonfiction essays and fictitious (but shockingly realistic) short stories provided Americans with vivid and declarative statements on the experiences of Black bodies in America. More specifically, Baldwin sought to destabilize the metanarrative, with all its flawed institutions and social constructions, in order to bring justice and equality to all marginalized bodies. While Baldwin’s work heavily influenced 1950s race relations and significantly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement, America is still not fully accepting of Black folks, and Baldwin’s scripture proves

By questioning the entire construction of religion and Christianity in both his fiction and non-fiction, Baldwin exposes the ironies of America’s master narrative that exist explicitly to deject Black Americans. Baldwin was no stranger to religion; he became a preacher in his early teens. Baldwin used religion as an escape from the Harlem streets, admitting in his nonfiction essay “Down at the Cross” (part of Library of Congress Collected Essays by James Baldwin) that he “surrendered to a spiritual seduction long before I came to any carnal knowledge” (Baldwin 303). At such a young age, Baldwin didn’t know to be wary of the possible negative effects of immersing himself in religion. After all, the master narrative trains Americans to believe that religion will “save” anyone and everyone, regardless of their race or identity. However, Baldwin would quickly learn that religion wasn’t as inclusive and unifying as White Americans made it out to be. Americans perceived God as white in the 1950s and still do today in the 2020s. Baldwin argues against a racialized God, citing the development of the Holocaust as evidence that God doesn’t truly serve all people. Referencing the genocide, Baldwin articulates that “We have

In America, Black children were, and still are, subject to much more violence and demoralization than their white counterparts. Baldwin’s short story “Previous Condition” beautifully outlines how black youth are subject to disproportional amounts of discrimination. Peter, the main character of “Previous Condition”, is black. Baldwin wrote “Previous Condition” from the first person point of view of Peter, and shortly into his self-introduction to the readers, Peter states, “The first time I was ever called a n****r I was seven years old” (Baldwin 85). Peter goes on to detail how he wanted to play catch with a white girl, but the white girl said that her mother “didn’t let her play with n*****s” (Baldwin 86). Peter’s first encounter with the n-word spawned a lifetime of confusion and frustration with white folks. He (rightfully) couldn’t imagine how an innocent 7-year-old boy just wanting to play catch could be subject to such hateful comments. Furthermore, Peter vividly remembers the first time someone called him the n-word even when it was so long ago, indicating the monumental impact it had on his emotional and mental health. The metanarrative trains white families to hate and fear Black people. Children are too young and innocent to understand the complexities of American race relations, so parents pass down