The Use of the Nation of Islam in “Down at the Cross” Like his essay “Notes of a Native Son,” James Baldwin’s “Down at the Cross” offers a three-part essay involving Baldwin’s personal adolescent experience, a specific event in Baldwin’s life, and a final analysis concluding with a warning to the readers. Baldwin describes a general experience throughout his life, and his sense of the public’s overall experience, to discuss the progression of America throughout history; the progression of America is the advancement of the American Negro according to Baldwin: “[The American Negro] is the key figure in his country, and the American future is precisely as bright or as dark as his” (Baldwin 340). The Nation of Islam and its leader, Elijah Muhammad, play an important role in Baldwin’s analysis. Baldwin’s early religious involvement prepare him for his experience at Muhammad’s residence, and his combined experiences instigate reflections upon the progress of black and white America since the emancipation of blacks during the Civil War. Baldwin begins his essay with a recount of his childhood, growing up black in a nation which considered itself white. Baldwin explains the uphill battle fought by every American Negro, how many “were clearly headed for the Avenue” (Baldwin 296) of whores, pimps, and racketeers. Baldwin argues that the American Negro was doomed to remain in the same state in which he or she was brought into the world, just as “girls were destined to gain as much weight as their mothers, the boys … would rise no higher than their fathers” (Baldwin 298). Even an education would not rescue one from “the man’s” oppression. The man, of course, is the white man who “would never, by the operation of any generous human feel... ... middle of paper ... ...ns of the consequences if America fails the journey: “God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!” (Baldwin 347). Works Cited Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” 1963. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84. “Cultist is Slain Battling Police.” New York Times 29 Apr. 1962, sec. 1: 72. Dodoo, Jan. Nation of Islam. 29 May 2001. U of Virginia. 17 Mar. 2004 Kihss, Peter. “In Return for Years of Slavery, Four or Five States.” New York Times 23 Apr. 1961, sec. 7: 406. Quarles, Benjamin. “Lincoln’s The Black Muslims in America.” Rev. of The Black Muslims in America, by C. Eric Lincoln. Journal of Negro History. Vol. XLVI, No. 3 (1961): 198-199. White, Jack E. “An Unlikely Prophet.” Time 13 Dec. 1999: 103+
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.
Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” 1963. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 296-347.
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).
James Baldwin is one of the premier essayists of his time. He draws on his experiences in a straightforward, unapologetic manner, which helps achieve his purpose in The Fire Next Time. His style elucidates his arguments for racial harmony and for the understanding of other religions.
The essay “Notes of a Native Son” takes place at a very volatile time in history. The story was written during a time of hate and discrimination toward African Americans in the United States. James Baldwin, the author of this work is African American himself. His writing, along with his thoughts and ideas were greatly influenced by the events happening at the time. At the beginning of the essay, Baldwin makes a point to mention that it was the summer of 1943 and that race riots were occurring in Detroit. The story itself takes place in Harlem, a predominantly black area experiencing much of the hatred and inequalities that many African-Americans were facing throughout the country. This marks the beginning of a long narrative section that Baldwin introduces his readers to before going into any analysis at all.
---. “White Man’s Guilt.” 1995 James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 722-727.
James Baldwin’s a The Fire Next Time” Down at the Cross – a letter from Region of my Mind” directly relates with the relationship of religion and race, exploring the differences between his experience with the Christian church when he was a young man and the ideals of Islam in the town of Harlem. Baldwin explained the whites as a group of people trapped within a purity given by God, and within this purity it allows them innocence. Baldwin analyzes the church or the Christian faith, because it has historically been used to go against black people dating back to the pre-Emancipation, and with a connection gone bad with Africa he also denies the movement of Black Muslim because he seeks to rather reverse hierarchy, than to destroy it. Through
From the descriptions of his book, his writing was all about connections and changing the way in which people relate. However, this book tells the story of how Black people needed to teach white people who were willing to learn about the Black experience so that they would understand what it meant to live as a Black person in the United States. Baldwin’s book was highly influential in changing the direction of thinking of many White people about the importance of attacking the problem of civil rights. On the Dick Cavett show he talked about the ways in which White organizations had a tendency to keep out Black Americans, making his point that the experience of being Black was very different than that of being White. Because they did not have access to unions, houses and neighborhoods, and a variety of different points of access that Whites had, it was clear that they were constantly being told that they were unwanted and would not have opportunity. He makes his point by saying that in the United States the Black culture was being asked to take a risk in participating in a world that they had never been allowed to
The NAACP made many strides in America to help integrate Whites and Blacks. This group’s main method of mixing the races was through the legal system. The path they picked caused many issues with Baldwin and one he perceived is that “very few liberals have any notion how long, how costly, and how heartbreaking a task it is to gather the evidence that one can carry into court, or how long such court battles take.” (Baldwin 320). So not only is it hard on the pocket, but Baldwin believes “there is no reason that Black men should be expected to be more patient, more forbearing, more farseeing than whites; indeed, quite the contrary” (Baldwin 321). One can see that Baldwin felt that the NAACP’s methods were slow and that the Black man should ...
O'Neale, Sondra A. "Fathers, Gods, and Religion: Perceptions of Christianity and Ethnic Faith in James Baldwin." In Fred L. Standley and Nancy V. Burt. Critical Essays on James Baldwin. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1988.
Notes of a Native Son, a widely acclaimed and celebrated book by James Baldwin was subjected to many reviews upon its first publication. There were many opposing views between reviewers but almost all came to the conclusion that Baldwin’s use of words was extremely eloquent and intelligent. Specifically an article titled “Rage unto Order” by Dachine Rainer was very adamant about Baldwin’s genius as a writer but hardly did anything to explain or exemplify that fact. Another review written by Langston Hughes reflects upon how Baldwin clings to the issue of racial discrimination on Negroes and that if he let go of that fact it would prove him to be a greater writer. In the third article the author tries to explain the meaning of Baldwin’s essay with specific quotes from within Baldwin’s work. However blatantly different there are several similarities between the articles. Some of which are Baldwin’s writing style and the articles share similar analyses of his viewpoints.
The third and final part of the essay deals mostly with Baldwin’s father’s funeral. The day of his father’s funeral was Baldwin’s 19th birthday and he spent most of the day drinking with a friend. At the funeral, his father was eulogized as a thoughtful, patient, and forbearing Christian. Baldwin says this is a complete misrepresentation of the embittered and angry man they all knew. Nonetheless, he concludes, given the burden a poor black man with nine children had to bear, such a eulogy was somehow just. His father may have been cruel and distant, but he also had to contend with raising children in a world he knew hated them, and the hatred he felt in turn for this world had consumed and troubled him in ways unknown to anyone but him.
Coates discusses his son, while Baldwin begins his essay about his father. He speaks of how his son should know all aspects of how his ancestries bodies’ have gone through struggle in different ways, thus has been passed down to his bloodline and culture, “You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body” (10). Furthermore, when Coates’ child heard of the indictment of Michael Brown’s killers he did not try to console him in sugar-coated words, but expressed to him the reality of these types of situations and how he, himself, can overcome them, “this is your country, that this is your world, and you must find sone way to live within the all of it” (12). He continues to progress on the topic, “I tell you now that the question of how one should live within a black body, within a county lost in the Dream, is the question of my life, and the pursuit of this question, I have found, ultimately answers itself” (12). He didn’t have the answers to why things were the way they are now, but the fact that we’re are still questioning that is a good example as to why things feel as though they haven’t changed. Contrastively, Baldwin doesn’t speak
Analyze – Baldwin tries to say that everyone is equal, it is the society who discriminated the Negroes by their skin color and says that they are not Americans. Which describes the mentality of the people therefore, it is called “… in their darkness of our mind.”
Therefore, I will analyze the text through historical approach and racial perspective. James Baldwin wrote this letter to his nephew, a young black man, who absolutely was in lower class and often experienced racial inequality. James Baldwin writes: “Well, he is dead, he never saw you, and he had a terrible life: he was defeated long before he died because, at the bottom of his heart, he really believed what white people said about him”(4). At that time, black people had poor sources, and they often experienced discrimination. Although they wanted to defeat, they did not dare to do. Because they recognized they were white people`s slaves and they could not resist them. However, James Baldwin is a specific person in this letter because he is the unique one to against the unequal life. When other black men use moody to protect themselves but still feel inferiority, he encourages his nephew. He says: “You, don`t afraid. I said that it was intended that you should perish in the ghetto... You have, and many of us have, defeated this intention; and, by a terrible law, a terrible paradox, those innocents who believed that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp of reality”(9). James Baldwin hopes his nephew not be influenced by what white men say. Likewise, he mentions there are many black men want to defeat with their unequal fate. He wants to achieve the real freedom, including the law, the realism, and the society. Furthermore, he has confident that African American can made American stronger, and he says: “ Great men have done great thing here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become”(10). The author suggests his nephew to study hard, and to build America with whites together, such as build railroads and dam