Stranger in the Village by James Baldwin is a personal narrative about the solidarity he was taunted by while visiting a hidden village in the Swiss Alps. His story is relatable to audiences who feel confined in their own skin. I chose Baldwin because his story is one of many, but it is an account which survives and depicts the Civil Rights movements. Baldwin shares his story which delves into the dying desire to escape, but never being able to achieve it due to physical characteristics. He leaves for Switzerland as a traveller, not a tourist. Although he is constantly alienated, he returns every winter to work on his writing and observe the casual discrimination against him. Towards the latter part of the documentation, he notes the origin …show more content…
There are still small pockets on each continent that believe black people are mythical creatures, or that they fake their skin. Some have never seen a black person in their life, such as my friend’s roommate in private school who thought her “people” were “only in movies”. Growing up as a minority of a population forces one to assimilate so they do not feel left out, however, Baldwin knows himself well enough to not fall into those tricks, such as “buying African natives for the purpose of converting them to Christianity”. He states that the “white man ceases to regard him as an exotic rarity and recognize him as a human being.” which reflects the wants that the black man wants, but is never given. It reflects the desire white people have for maintaining an authentic vision of their privilege. Still to this day, black men and women are either fetishized or criminalized when they don’t submit to their oppressors, and they beg for equality, hoping the white man will see them as something other than votes for their next