Bailey Wilkins

Prof. Ragio

ENG 306

10/9/17

This World is White No Longer

James Baldwins Stranger in the Village is a first person account of Baldwins visit to a

small Swiss town, as well as his thoughts about segregation and racism in America. He starts off

by telling the reader about the town itself. He describes the village in detail, listing its attractions,

amenities, and landscape. He then goes on to describe the reaction of the village people towards

his appearance, and his reactions to them. They dont intend to be hateful like those in America

are, but their practices are still backwards and demeaning in a nave way. He reflects on the

effect of the power of the white man, and how the black man fights to be recognized simply as

another human being. As he returns to his thoughts on the village, he examines how, as time

passes, the people are not as naively friendly as they once were. As time passes, the people are

now viewing and responding to the color of his skin with contempt. He continues on for a long

while, detailing the history of the American Negro (320) and the battles they continue to fight.

Baldwin ends his essay with a powerful affirmation, This world is white no longer, and it will

never be white again (323).

Baldwins essay is an example of an inductive argument. He starts the essay of very

specifically, not only giving firsthand accounts of reactions he faced, but also giving the specific
details of the town itself. He writes statements like The village is very high, but it is only four

hours from Milan and three hours from Lausanne. (314) and There are about six hundred

people living here, all Catholic- I conclude this from the fact that the Catholic Church is open all

year round (315). These statements are static and specific, there is no arguing that these are

general in nature. Now, Baldwins writing does go back and forth a bit. It stays specific for the

first few pages of the essay before Baldwin examines some thoughts and ideas about the black

man and his internal thoughts. He continues to switch, going back and forth from the village and

its people, and his personal thoughts of racism. The essay ends with general ideas of a changed

America such as, The time has come to realize that the interracial drama acted out on the

American continent has not only created a new black man, it has created a new white man, too

(323).

Throughout this essay, Baldwin visits and re-visits the idea that the white man sees

himself as naturally superior to the black man. On page 317, Baldwin writes But there is a great

difference between being the first white man to be seen by Africans and being the first black man

to be seen by whites. This already is where he starts to distinguish the two races introductions

to the other. He continues on the same page with, The white man takes the astonishment as

tribute, for he arrives to conquer and to convert the natives, whose inferiority in relation to

himself is not even to be questioned; whereas I, without a thought of conquest, find myself

among a people whose culture controls me, has even, in a sense, created me, people who have

cost me more in anguish and rage than they will ever know, who yet do not even know of my

existence. In my opinion, this is the singular most powerful statement in the entire essay.
Baldwins appealing to the listeners emotions, or pathos. I agree with Baldwins statement here.

This statement holds the pain that he encounters every day as a black man. He wants the readers

to see that, while supposedly free, his life is controlled by those with lighter skin. The white man

is ignorant to the struggles he faces. When the white man is seen for the first time, he takes the

reactions as awe and wonder for how amazing and powerful he is. Meanwhile, the American

black man is seen as a burden and inherently seen as a lesser being. His day to day is filled with

hatred flung left and right. This appeal to pathos is incredibly effective, especially to me as a

white woman. I have never experienced the type of discrimination that people of color face in

their everyday lives. It makes me stop and think about what Ive done and what I can do in the

future to lessen the bigotry in the world. Baldwin wrote this essay during a time when people of

color faced even more violence and hatred in their lives. White Americans have a very one-sided

view of their world. They dont understand what its like to be inherently distrusted because of

the color of your skin. White Americans dont understand what it is like to be considered dirty or

lesser, simply because of your difference in skin tone. Baldwins essay should be a staple

reading in every class that examines race and racism in America. I personally feel as if my eyes

have opened more to the struggles that people of color have faced in America. This essay makes

you think about what youve done to contribute to the day to day struggle of people of color, and

how you can examine the casual racism in your life.

Baldwin, James. Stranger in the Village. The Brief McGraw Reader: Issues Across the
Disciplines, Edited by Gilbert H. Muller, McGraw Hill, 2012. pp 314-323.