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James Baldwin's Influence On Identity

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A famous figure from the Civil Rights Movement is James’s Baldwin. Baldwin had written various works talking about the struggles faced by African Americans. But before Baldwin had written those works there were events that shaped his identity. James Baldwin’s father's death and his experience with racism shaped his identity because through those experiences he finds out the meaning of his father's bitterness, show him the difference between color, and put fear into him. James Baldwin’s identity was shaped when he learned the true meaning of his father bitterness because it should him his father's point of view. When James Baldwin was a young kid he was afraid of his father and did not talk to his father very much making him not be able to connect with his father. During the year of his father’s death Baldwin had founded why he is father was also so bitter. Baldwin’s father was also so bitter and cruel to white people because of the weight of white people. This …show more content…

As kid Baldwin was born in Harlem and did not see that much racism in his childhood. This is shown when Baldwin was in school and the white teacher asked him if he would like to go to the theater and instead of being afraid of the white teacher he was instead afraid of what his father would say. Also, Baldwin was used to the white teacher coming to his house and which shows that he probably did not experience racism yet. When Baldwin moved to New Jersey things were different for him because he had experienced racism for the first time. This is shown in the text when Baldwin says “I knew about Jim crow but I had never experienced it” which shows that author never experienced racism until he moved to Jersey. Once Baldwin experienced racism it changed his identity because it made him colder as stated in the text when it says “This made me colder and more murderous than

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