Compare And Contrast Baldwin And Staples

On one hand James Baldwin is addressing his letter to his nephew, but on the other hand the text is also applicable to the entire black community who is oppressed by society; and to the whites who need to recognize the need for equality. Baldwin addresses the letter to the teenager, James, and additionally descriptively clarifies how this deadly situation applies to many dark-skinned men. Contrastingly, the novelist realizes how the privileged population will hear this message as well, which Baldwin makes clear when he metaphorically states, “I hear the chorus of the innocents screaming, ‘No! This is not true! How bitter you are!’”(Baldwin

Baldwin uses the experiences he faced in New Jersey and the personal relationship with his father to show ethos throughout his essay. At one point in his essay, Baldwin finds himself in New Jersey where segregation still exist. “I learned in New Jersey…one was never looked at but was simply at the mercy of the reflexes the color of one’s skin caused in other people” (68). Here Baldwin expresses how circumstances in New Jersey were like at the time, but also portrays the way people were viewed based on the color of their skin. Baldwin later goes on to mention the year he spent in New Jersey, was the year in which “[he] first contracted some dread, chronic disease” (70). This “disease” Baldwin contracted is not an actual disease, but more of a way in which he begins to feel and see the world around him differently. The disease Baldwin is referring to throughout his entire essay is bitterness. Living in New Jersey caused Baldwin to gain the sense of bitterness that his father had lived with during his life. Baldwin’s bitterness comes from the way he was specifically treated in New Jersey and how he allowed that feeling to affect his behaviors. Baldwin specifically mentions the moment in New Jersey where the white waitress approaches him at the restaurant stating, “We don’t serve Negroes here” (71). At this point we begin to see Baldwin as he acts out in violence by stating, “I wanted her to come close enough for me to get her neck

Both authors explore examples in which they are treated in a racist or discriminatory manner. Brent Staples encountered a younger woman and “came upon her late one evening on a deserted street… she cast back a worried glance… picked up her pace and was soon running in earnest.” (Staples 1) Just the mere sight of him made the woman scared, after this experience he feels “surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once. Her flight made me feel like an accomplice in tyranny.” (2) He realizes that he is “indistinguishable from the muggers...” (2), or at least to the woman. Staples experiences, first hand, discrimination; the woman is fearful of him because of his race, and Staples feels the full effect of that. Gloria Naylor recounts the first time she was ever called the N-word. It was in class and she she says “she couldn’t have been more puzzled.” She “didn’t know what a nigger was,” but she did know “it was something he shouldn't have called” her (Naylor 3). She was thoroughly confused and later asked her mother what the word meant. Naylor is treated poorly due to the color of her skin. Similarly to Staples,

The plot in the story is mainly about personal expression. It attempts to illustrate the ability and freedom of personal expression in an environment and circumstances that degrade the entire pursuit to achieve personal freedom. The author is able to exploit English language, the language of black oppression and use these techniques to tell a true story of African-American experiences. Baldwin carefully controls the intensity of his story to harness acceptance across

As a collection of major essays in which Baldwin covered, he was able to express himself as giving the point of a view as a Negro. Yet, his subjects are “less concrete, less clearly defined” for those of the white majority as an audience. Baldwin covers the first hand experience of the Black Muslim movement, but gives no background as to those who are trying to comprehend the information thrown to them. Baldwin brings in the discrimination of the figures who brought negative impact, but more damage

In “Notes of a Native Son”, James Baldwin intertwines his personal narrative thread and the broader, societal narrative thread. He draws from his childhood, explicating how he and his siblings did not understand or enjoy being around their father growing up, and his first time experiencing discrimination in the workplace. Baldwin then draws from societal issues by touching on a story in the Hotel Braddock where a Negro soldier and a white policeman got into a quarrel that was blown slightly out of proportion. The two threads allowed the reader to acknowledge the active role they play in fighting commonplace injustices. The author uses the closeness of hatred and hurt in regard to visiting his father in hospice care and the fabrication of alternative facts during the Harlem race riots to erect a guideline on how to combat injustice. He also stresses the importance of eradicating hate in the hearts of those involved. At length, the guideline becomes a plan of action for beginning a cross-generational project to stop the systematic oppression of his people. Baldwin is an advocate of the intersectionality of injustice and how change begins with self-reflection.

My research for this week began to shift after a conversation with a literary scholar on James Baldwin. After reading The Fire Next Time, Notes from a Native Son and a few op-ed pieces on Baldwin, I was affirmed by this scholar that I was on the right track. I started our conversation with my overall premise of what Baldwin is trying to proclaim through his writings about Black Rage. He concurred that there is a strong connection and one worth exploring for further research when considering Baldwin’s relationship with his father. His challenge was to really develop the problem that Baldwin had with his father and how that was the impetus for his Black Rage.

In the short story “Black Men in Public Spaces” by Brent Staples, Brent explains his life of being an unknown black man in a public space. Brent focuses his passage on the negativity he receives from the other ethnic groups. He illuminates their reactions of anger and fear. In the short story “Strangers in The Village” by James Baldwin, Baldwin explains his amusing emotion to the prejudice comments that are being made about him. Baldwin’s emotions were positive and humorous. Though both authors encounter prejudice actions and comments about their race, their responses to the situations were different.

James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" contains many themes such as social injustice and family values. Underlying all his work are anecdotes of how prejudice affected him both when he witnessed other people making judgments as well as making his own judgments growing up. Baldwin discusses his experiences to show how prejudice can create different perceptions among others.

Particularly in Baldwin’s second essay “Down at the Cross”, he touches on the human condition’s struggle with confidence. As a people, we rely on past experiences to lead us forward. We tend to stay on trend, particularly with controversial subject matter. To not much surprise, the white race has followed this algorithm of hate and discrimination, for it is much easier to do so than to be disputatious. The white race is essentially a frightened young child, capable only of parroting their mothers and fathers and reserving their own convictions in fear of judgement. The white race has no confidence, no love for themselves. Perhaps they are ashamed of their fear to speak their minds. However, when the white race learns to love themselves, “ –the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed” (22). Whites will no longer need a scapegoat; their juvenile hectoring will cease to provide the grotesque satisfaction that it has for

Baldwin’s worrisome letter to his nephew paints a picture of the diminishing and unfulfilling life that a young black man will have to experience during the time period. Paradoxically, surviving in this unjust world involves unreciprocated acceptance towards white people and unfaltering reasoning that extends beyond the zeitgeist that is disturbed by religion. His advice to start is to, “take no one’s word for anything, including mine, but trust your experiences” (Baldwin 3).

What Baldwin continues to introduce in this work is a profound understanding of black life. His ability to articulate complex cultural issues with clarity is something to marvel. He understands that there are levels of tension in the lives of black people that must be handled with much care. The constant pendulum that swings between violence and non-violence is “the dilemma and the rage and the anguish of a Negro man...” Therefore the lifespan of a black child is subjugated to rigorist structures of destruction which appears to be engrained in the culture of America. Baldwin laments, “There is nothing you can do. And all you can do about it is try…is pray really that this will not destroy him.” This is the black rage that engulfs the hearts and mind of young black males. Baldwin locates black rage in

Baldwin’s essay is effective to his readers because he uses his personal memories as example. One of the memories is when Baldwin explains how his father is never proud of his skin color, which explains how black people think of themselves. “With his blackness and beauty, and with the fact that he knew that he was black but did not know that he was beautiful” claimed Baldwin (85). Some black people don’t really like their skin color, because they believe blackness is ugly. Today, some black people bleach their skin especially black women. They bleach their skin just to let their skin white and it common in Africa. Therefore, what Baldwin is trying to pass out to his readers is the color black is beautiful. Baldwin father blackness have had so many

In this book, content is more important than style because without the content of racism this book will not have a good tenacity no matter what the style of the author is. James Baldwin mainly focused on racism, sexism and class-ism. In these non-fiction collected essays he showed us his struggle of being a ‘Negro’ in America and how he and his family survived.

James Baldwin is highly regarded as one of the great writers of his time. In the “Notes of a Native Son” he describes a very influential moment in his life. The essay’s setting takes place during the Harlem riots in New York City and Detroit. The riot in New York all began due the fatal shooting of a young African American boy by a white police officer. Protesters began to protest the police brutality, but then fights and looting broke out when some protesters became unruly. Baldwin’s essay reflects upon his interactions and feelings with and about his father. He analyzes how his father affected him and talks about what kind of person his father was. He also reflects on the impact of his father’s death. All the