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Racism In James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time

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Changing is inevitable when traveling through life. Usually people, countries, or societies will evolve to become better than they once were. The 2000’s has seen a decrease in racism and more fighting against racism, than in the 1800s or the 1900s. In James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time”, Baldwin writes, “We can make America what America must become” (10) to his nephew, the future generation. Baldwin means that America must become more accepting, “For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it” (10). America is not the home of only one race, it is the home of many. Baldwin wants his nephew to know that it is upon them to create a more accepting America. Baldwin thinks that America must change because of the hypocrisy of religions, the persecution of the blacks
Baldwin views Christianity and Islam as hypocritical because each religion sees itself as superior than others. These religions are two of …show more content…

Baldwin had spent many years learning and preaching the Word and had come to realize that “…there was no love in the church. It was a mask for hatred and self-hatred and despair” (39). This mask caused people to think only for themselves. The priests acted in self-interest and rejected anyone who would prevent them from gaining their desire. Baldwin saw that the greediness of the church was not helping anyone. His childhood friends were still turning to the streets, drinking and committing crimes. The church committed the same acts, but few noticed because of this mask of love, just as Elijah used his charisma to convince others to hate whites.
Baldwin believed that his nephew and himself could change America. The fact that he believes that he has the ability to change how others perceive each other shows how much faith he has in the ability of people to love. In the second essay he mentions how there are few people he loves and that some of those people are

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Americans, whether they like it or not, share their living spaces with individuals from a multitude of different backgrounds, such as Hispanics and Latinos and African Americans and so on and so forth. This living situation, however, has been set in place since before the 1960s, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his letter “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” Back in the 1960s, a large number of white people did not want to and would not live within the same community as black American citizens, and this racism towards the black population spanned further than just neighborhoods. Racism was rampant throughout the streets of America, and for the longest time, being an American meant living in a nation that was divided by color and, ultimately, status; those who were white were superior and those who were not were lower. America now, while integrated and preaching equality, still contains racism on mass levels, and to be an American now means having to face the reality that equality has still not been reached in society.

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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 was also known as James Arthur Baldwin and wrote famous for his novels. He was born in Harlem on August 2,1924, his mother was Emma Berdis Jones his father was David Baldwin, went to Dewitt Clinton high school, the new school James did not go to college due to looking after his family he was a preacher he died on December 1, 1987, place of death Saint Paul De Vence. The poem, untitled let us know let your light shine but at the same time don’t get carried away, if you don’t let your light shine you want be yourself ‘’not get carried away by the sound of the falling water’’ . Be yourself and don 't judge people by how they are or how they look because if you 're not yourself your life would be in darkness. You have to know yourself where you come from who you stand for, because if you 're not yourself you wouldn 't be living your life.

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One will constantly face temporary conflict throughout life, but ultimately they can overcome through a will to on and pursue what makes oneself happy. Baldwin was able to create a picture in the reader's mind due to his personal relation to his characters, he was able to understand the harsh times for an African-American male. It also reflects on the care that siblings have for one another and how even though they have good intentions, they can't always help their loved one follow a positive

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