Prejudice And Racism In James Baldwin's Kindred

African American activist, and literary author James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” In other words, Baldwin is saying that a problem can not be solved until it is faced, but not every problem that is faced will have a solution. Racism is a very large issue in today’s society, it is an issue that places individuals of color below individuals that classify as white. This is an issue that is being spread throughout government systems, and faced by many people in society. However, due to the white influence, the elimination of racism is being hampered. Many of the people who are burdened by a racist society cooperate with other people who are also anti-racist to protest

Mohr does this using characters that are middle school age who have an idea as to why they have to be separated during lunch time. Yvette is Hispanic and Mildred is Jewish, these girls are best friends, however, the school segregates the Hispanic students from the Jewish children because they are ‘different’. The narrator narrates, “Yvette ate the free lunch provided by the school and Mildred brought her lunch from home in a brown paper bag. Because of school rules, free-lunch children and bag-lunch children could not sit in the same section, and the two girls always ate separately. This week, however, they had planned to eat lunch together” (Mohr 52). The girls plan to sit together at lunch because they know that they are not supposed to, but their close relationship with one another is what holds the girls together in support of each other. This is a symbol of resistance, their plan to sit together is the factor that breaks the rules and argues against the education system for segregating them in the first place. Mohr uses this symbol to show the reader that these characters are aware of the racism that is going on within their school and that although they are children, these girls are not going to shy away from what is right versus what their school is telling them is right. The close friendship that Yvette and Mildred have is a representation

Tish and Fonny are an African American couple that are faced with a racist judicial system when Fonny is accused and arrested for rape by a white officer. After Tish and her sister Ernestine have a meeting with Fonny’s lawyer, Mr.Hayward, they discuss possible ways to manipulate the system in order to free Fonny from prison. Ernestine says “‘ If I can get those two women, one white and one black, to sit in that court-room, and if Hayward does his work right, we ought to be able to shatter the case, on cross-examination. Remember, Tish, that, after all, it isn’t very much of a case. If Fonny were white, it wouldn’t be a case at all’” (Baldwin 120). Baldwin creates this interaction between Tish and her sister because Ernestine is more in touch with reality. Both Tish and Ernestine are aware of the racism that exists in society, but Tish is more concerned with getting Fonny out of prison while Ernestine is concerned with Fonny’s freedom as well as the logistics of the case itself. Ernestine’s mistrust towards the case as a whole is a representation of a resistance against the racism within their court system, it shows that Ernestine is not going to sit around and let Fonny get an even longer sentence for a crime he did not commit, similar to how Yvette and Mildred came up with a plan to go against their school system instead of letting the