4/22/24, 1:14 PM DQ Baldwin 10:30AM: Prescilla Pascua

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from DQ Baldwin 10:30AM Mar 18, 2024 4:06PM

2. The bitterness that Baldwin frequently mentions and shares with

his father is the anger that is formed as a result from the way that
they are treated as African Americans by white people. Due to the Jim
Crow laws that were established, African Americans were denied many of
the rights that were given to white people, such as eating at certain
restaurants. Because black people in the states are American, them being
denied certain rights because of their skin color inherently builds up this
bitterness that Baldwin frequently mentions. He describes this by writing,
"There is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood- no
one has the choice, merely, of living with it consciously or surrendering to
it" (Baldwin 1994, 592). If African Americans try to resist this reality, they
could risk getting themselves killed, which Baldwin also describes when he
wrote, "...my real life, was in danger, and not from anything other people
might do but from the hatred I carried in my own heart" (Baldwin 1994,
594). This confirms the argument that Du Bois makes about living in a
double-consciousness. Black people can see and understand the "white
man's world" but they are unable to live it without risking their own life.

3. Baldwin argues that to overcome racial injustice, both parties have to

understand themselves. When the riots were happening in Harlem,
Baldwin points out the obvious fact that, "None of this was doing anybody
any good" (Baldwin 1994, 602). No amount of rioting would solve
problems regarding racial injustice and for these injustices to be solved,
both black and white people need to not only understand themselves, but
also understand each other's perspectives. Lang would agree with this
argument since it relatively aligns with his common theme throughout his
film of the heart being the mediator between the head and the hands.
Rather than spending time hating each other, opposing groups should find
common ground and accept each other as equal.

Q: Do you think Baldwin would've made these realizations about racial

injustice if his father hadn't died? Or was his father's death what led him to
those realizations that he explains on pages 603-604?

https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/180828/assignments/4934775/submissions/879999 2/3