TH 6 The Fire Next Time

In The Fire Next Time James Baldwin addresses the repetitive state of African American males in America. He addressed problems of the ghetto and living situations for black men. Instead of bashing or castrating whites he labeled them as  our brothers.
When addressing this country’s treatment of blacks Baldwin describes expectations of America in which I found extremely relatable.Baldwin states “ You were not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.”(p7) I found this quote so relatable because throughout my hometown which is predominantly black African American males in general valued small things like pop warner football league memories and high school sports stats. Many of my community elders had not finished high school and were okay with it. They had settled for their 9 to 5 job on minimum wage pay. When I graduated this mindset of my hometown had become so clear to me that frightened me to pursue higher education. I did not know of any black doctors or lawyers from my community but we had some of the best rappers and athletes to come from Pittsburgh.

Baldwin breaks down the thought processes of some whites by stating “ They are, in effect, still trapped in history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable reasons that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them indeed, know better, but as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know.” (p9)This quote is really important to me because it addresses how whites reintroduce old histories by keeping racist behaviors alive. They know these views are extremely wrong and yet they reinforce them and strive to keep their negative peace alive. The importance of inferiority to whites will cause them to go against what they know is morally correct. Some whites don’t understand what they are doing like Baldwin expressed. They have been taught to view African Americans one way their whole life and don’t understand how unjust their views are.

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