In his speech, “A Talk for Teachers”, Baldwin successfully illustrates a blunt and realistic scene that plays to the audiences’ patriotism and anger in order to legitimize the internal struggles of African American students and inspire teachers to recognize them. He describes in his speech how, in America, the education of the black students’ past “is nothing more than a record of humiliations gladly endured” and “that the value he has as a black man is proven by one thing only – his devotion to white people” (Baldwin 124). The author is able to challenge the idea that the America is a land of opportunity for all, while simultaneously defining the reason that this ideal does not pertain to African Americans. Because he provides the phrases,
Chase Mielke’s spoken word piece, “What Students Really Need to Hear”, shines many lights on the purpose of school and how students contribute to said purpose. There are a myriad of important points, although the central idea stands out above all. More specifically, the idea that the point of school is not to memorize facts, but to learn how to deal with difficult times properly. He writes, “It is your resilience in conquering the main event- adversity- that truly prepares you for life after school.” Mielke illustrates this concept using rhetorical devices such as pathos, or emotions. Simply, the author’s use of pathos emphasizes the idea that school’s ‘main event’ is to instruct students on how to keep moving in the face of seemly insurmountable harshness.
The perception of the “American Dream” drives many to attain it. For many coming from other countries it was a more favorable probability of a better standard of living than what was offered at home. However, for many non-white races the dream was practically nonexistent because the many laws and regulation was made to exemplify the whites over the nonwhites. James Baldwin expresses his discontent of the oppression that continues to subjugate nonwhite communities, specifically in the African American community, and the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders who states “Our Nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.”
Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined “American history” is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay “Take Me to the Water.” Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin...
The American society, more so, the victims and the government have assumed that racism in education is an obvious issue and no lasting solution that can curb the habit. On the contrary, this is a matter of concern in the modern era that attracts the concern of the government and the victims of African-Americans. Considering that all humans deserve the right to equal education. Again, the point here that there is racial discrimination in education in Baltimore, and it should interest those affected such as the African Americans as well as the interested bodies responsible for the delivery of equitable education, as well as the government. Beyond this limited audience, on the other hand, the argument should address any individual in the society concerned about racism in education in Baltimore and the American Society in
James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook” is a significant letter written to his nephew also named James, to warn him of the discrimination he will encounter living in America. Although he has written this letter to his nephew, it’s for a greater audience, it is for whites that do not see the expense of their selfishness and deem themselves innocent although causing pain to millions of lives. Although it is not completely their fault because they have grown up to believe their superiority towards blacks, they must realize their horrid ways and confront their “innocence”. Baldwin, an African American writer, composes this letter on the one-hundredth anniversary of the emancipation, making it obvious he is looking to leave more than just a warning to his nephew. This letter seeks to warn a young African American child of the struggles he will deal solely because he is black and no other reason, and must not allow the hate of the “innocent” to phase him.
Almost every person who has stepped foot in a college classroom has experienced ethnic diversity within the students in the room. This has not always been the case however. Up until 1954 blacks and whites attended different schools and weren’t allowed the same schooling opportunities. It took a young girl, Linda Brown, and her father, Oliver Brown, as well as many other courageous African American families to stand up to the old law of “separate but equal”, decided in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case in 1892, and fight for equal educational rights for whites and blacks. Even though the Supreme Court decided in favor of the Brown family in 1954, this did not mean that everyone was so eager to accept integration so readily. In fact, right away things hardly changed at all, especially at the higher levels of education. It took a man by the name of James Meredith, the first African American student at the University of Mississippi, to further expand what the Brown’s had started and further break the racial boundaries put around education. Presently school integration has greatly improved but there is still definitely room for improvement. Baldwin was accurate in describing his present day conditions of school segregation in that it was almost a joke and that no “progress” had been made but he was wrong to say that, “the sloppy and fatuous nature of American good will can never be relied upon to deal with hard problems” (Baldwin 336). It is American good will and unity that has brought all races together to improve integration in public schools and although there is still room for improvement everyone’s attitudes have shifted to make schooling improved for all students.
From slavery being legal, to its abolishment and the Civil Rights Movement, to where we are now in today’s integrated society, it would seem only obvious that this country has made big steps in the adoption of African Americans into American society. However, writers W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin who have lived and documented in between this timeline of events bringing different perspectives to the surface. Du Bois first introduced an idea that Baldwin would later expand, but both authors’ works provide insight to the underlying problem: even though the law has made African Americans equal, the people still have not.
After analyzing the course syllabus for English 1101 Composition and Rhetoric, it’s to my understanding that in order to be successful in the class we must first have the necessary text books; which include “Back to the Lake” by Cooley Thomas, and “The Little Seagull Handbook” by Richard Bullock and Michal Brody. This course will expand my knowledge of reading and comprehension. This course will enhance my use of correct grammar, and my skills to write and analyze essays. It is expected of me to attend every class, and to be on time. Make up work as well as late assignments are non existent and not negotiable, unless brought to the professors’ attention ahead of time. It is required of me to complete four essays, one research paper, and have
In Notes of a Native Son, James Baldwin describes the funeral of his father on his nineteenth birthday. The cause of death, according to Baldwin, was the paranoia caused by a “fever”(53) that all African Americans hold because of the way that white people treat them. The funeral scene in particular impacted Baldwin in exemplifying the effects of the paranoia that is forced upon Black people as a result of racial bias in the United States. Baldwin has to live with the same illness his father had, and had to watch his community suffer in the same way. Although it has been seventy five years since the death of Baldwin’s father, the issues that he faced are still relevant today. The documentary I Am Not Your Negro reveals the same struggle that Black Americans face in cities all over the United
James Baldwin, writer and rights activist during the mid twentieth century, composed a series of essays which comprise the book, “Notes of a Native Son”. Here, Baldwin reflects on the relationship he had with his father and how it affected his life as a black man in America. In the first part of the book, Baldwin mentions an instance from his youth that shaped him: his experience being shut out by a diner that didn’t serve black people. Baldwin took a seat at an all white diner. Shortly after, a waitress came to his table to tell him, “we don't serve negroes here”. That phrase flooded Baldwin with anger, and filled the waitress with fear. He proceeded to throw a water pitcher aimed at that woman out of anger.
The whites were living blinded by their anxiety and unwilling to accept the horrors of their racism, causing them to only heap more abuse and brutality upon the blacks in order to convince themselves of their own superiority. The blacks were so oppressed by the whites, so lost in the world in which they faced constant harsh treatment from those that held the power in America that they lost sight of their importance and contribution to America and simply fell into a life of “sharing a jug of wine or a bottle of whiskey, talking, cursing, fighting,” a life devoid of recognizing that America needed them and all black Americans. By drawing the issue of social injustice to this inability to accept reality out of fear, Baldwin places the continuance of racial injustice and the subsequent consequences on all those that refuse to accept that “everything now, we must assume, is in our hands,” those who fail to accept their social responsibility (Baldwin
According to James Baldwin, the ability to perceive these injustices initially buds during one’s childhood— a time when people are not yet aware of the repercussions of viewing things conscientiously, and they are able to “look at everything, look at each other, and draw their own conclusions” (Baldwin 2). Before being thrown into the tangled web of society, children can freely contemplate ideas through their own perception; in other words, their thoughts are not dictated by society. By depicting the consequences of thinking deliberately, Baldwin suggests that society only wants an ideal citizen— someone who indubitably accepts its conventions. Indeed, this model citizen is molded and created by the American educational system through its extensive influence over impressionable children. However, once in school, children, especially black Americans, will almost immediately discover that the malevolence of society create “the shape of his oppression” (3). Admittedly, the underlying purpose of education is to teach an entire generation how to become clones of society’s model citizen. Yet, education does precisely the opposite; it fosters children to pragmatically perceive their society and the racial injustices that are present. As a result of this paradox of education, children question their role and yearn to oppose the fixed system. In particular, once a black child realizes the immorality of the racial discrimination he or she faces and “suspects his own worth” (4), he or she will “attack the entire power structure” (4). Instead of willingly submitting to the predetermined fate society condemns to every black American, those who actively seek and preserve their identity can escape society’s constraints. They will question why society’s hierarchy system causes black people to be inferior to
According to James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to My Nephew” African Americans cannot obtain their piece of the American Dream. Baldwin wrote a letter to his nephew in hope of guiding him through life. Baldwin had many words of wisdom to share, mostly words provoked by pain and anger. Baldwin wanted to teach his nephew about the cruelty of society. His main point was to teach his nephew not to believe the white man and his words. He wanted to encourage his nephew to succeed in life but not to expect the unassailable. By believing the white man one can not succeed but by knowing where one comes from will lead to success was the foundation of Baldwin’s message (243-246).
Rhetoric is the pedestal upon which a good education rests. . Rhetoric is critical thinking— the study and art of writing and speaking well, being persuasive, and knowing how to compose and deliver both successful written and oral presentations Advanced levels of clear thinking, good argument, logical discussion and speaking are essential to academic student success in any discipline and field. Rhetoric teaches students how to criticize and analyze what you read and study whether in the sciences or liberal arts— the stronger your education.
Despite these injustices, teacher’s growing up in the era of Jim Crow and awareness to the harshness and inhumanness of society suited them with an appropriate attitude for classroom teachings…for, “it was the responsibility of the teachers, with assistance from the parents and the church, to educate these students—provide them with the brain power, to combat the injustices of society.” (Chapter 13. 217) Thus, teachers caring behaviors can foster a type of attitude beneficial to young black African Americans growing up in a world of racism. More so, the traditional preaching of the self-help ideology and Afrocentric talk promotes student respect, responsibility, perseverance and the importance of learning. The same type of mentality needed to overcome the inscribed image of racism in the