Discussion Post 2: Baldwin & ​I Am Not Your Negro

In chapter one of ​Notes of a Native Son,​ James Baldwin analyzes the protest novel's
concept as he critiques ​Uncle Tom's Cabin​ by Harriet Beecher Stowe. A protest novel is
essentially a novel that focuses on a particular social issue and how that issue is presented
throughout the novel and affects its characters. Baldwin argues that while ​Uncle Tom's Cabin​ is
intended to be racially progressive for black people, in reality, it is hindered by the values and
beliefs of a white woman, therefore making it a lousy protest novel (Baldwin). To emphasize his
argument, Baldwin utilizes a theme of religion to display how Mrs. Stowe's religious virtue
contradicts her abolitionary novel.

In his analysis of ​Uncle Tom's Cabin,​ James Baldwin examines the characters created by
Mrs. Stowe. He makes a point of bringing attention to the fact that "Apart from [Mrs. Stowe's"
lively procession of fieldhands, house [n-word], Chloe, Topsy, etc. – who are the stock, lovable
figures presenting no problem – she has only three other Negroes in the book" (Baldwin). The
three other black characters included George and Eliza, both of which are quite whitewashed,
and Uncle Tom. Baldwin goes on to analyze Uncle Tom and how having both black skin and
self-control is a great victory through the eyes of Mrs. Stowe since his black skin was "born
without the light" (Baldwin). The "light" in this example is referring to the religious view that
"black equates with evil and white with grace", something Mrs. Stowe believed in since white
was a sign of God, or angels and purity, and black was the stark contrast and by association
connected with the devil. By Baldwin examining Uncle Tom in this religious aspect, he displays
the real implications of Mrs. Stowe's protest novel and black characterizations. Despite her
inclusivity of black characters to be a racially progressive novel, she only contradicted her work
by instilling her white puristic views.

In the documentary ​I Am Not Your Negro​, a quote by James Baldwin states, "I am not a
ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I'm one of the people who built this
country" (​Your Negro​). In this quote, Baldwin explains that since he is a black man, he, along
with all the other black people in America, built America, which is incredibly valid. Like
Baldwin, Toni Morrison in ​Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination​,
expressed a similar concept when she wrote that "Africanism is the vehicle by which the
American self knows itself as not enslaved, but free; not repulsive, but desirable; not helpless,
but licensed and powerful; not history-less, but historical; not damned, but innocent; not a blind
accident of evolution, but a progressive fulfillment of destiny" (52). In this quote, she discusses
the creation of the American identity that was built on the backs of black people in America. If it
were not for black people's struggles in America, then the white American identity would have
never been itself. Therefore, when Baldwin explains how he is not a portion of America but​ is
America, it is a valid statement.
 In the documentary, Baldwin explains the roles of an actor and a witness. He states, "I
was to discover that the line which separates a witness from an actor is a very thin line indeed.
Nevertheless, the line is real. (​Your Negro​ 21:23-21:33). To Baldwin, the actors are the people
making the change like those leading marches, raising money, signing petitions, etc. These are
the real-time activists advocating for change. Baldwin did not do these things and responded by
saying, "[not being an actor] was sometimes hard on my morale, but I had to accept, as time war
on, that part of my responsibility, as a witness, was to move as largely and as freely as possible.
To write the story, and to get it out. (​Your Negro​ 23:04-23:22). Baldwin essentially explains that
the witness's role is to see the changes and make them visible to the public, especially in
literature, since the witness is practically the historian for the time by recording the actors'
actions.
 Works Cited
Baldwin, James. ​Notes of a Native Son​. Beacon Press, 1955.

I Am Not Your Negro​. Directed by Raoul Peck, distributed by Amazon Studios, 2017.

Morrison, Toni. ​Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination​. Vintage Books,
1992.