The Fire Next Time

In James Baldwin’s, The Fire Next Time, the ideas that he mentions mirrors our discussions within class very clearly. Baldwin discusses how “white people hold the power, which means that they are superior to blacks (intrinsically, that is: God decreed it so), and the world has innumerable ways of making this difference known and felt and feared” (pg. 26). Within our different class discussions, we constantly are talking about the hierarchy of power. The idea of power is what white people, men in particular, decide to do with the power and which group of people they decide to oppress. The different opportunities given to black people and white people are made visible. For example, African-Americans are not given equal educational opportunities based on where they are able to live and the school they are able to go to. These differences create a sense of fear within the black community because they cannot control the bad hand that they have been dealt. We discussed in class how many students felt that if they were not incredible athletes or singers, they would not have an overly successful future. Baldwin mentions that with the hand that he was dealt, “he did not yet dare to take the idea of becoming a writer seriously” (page 24). The opportunities that Baldwin had of succeeding were limited due to the obstacles placed in his everyday life of being a black man. Baldwin describes the fear he heard in his father’s voice when he realized that James truly believed he could do the same things as a white boy (page 26). This is when Baldwin turns to the church, but later he explains how the Bible had been written by white men (page 36) and God was a white man (page 31). Relating this back to our class discussion, most of the information we read or we learn is information presented by white men. Therefore, our education we receive is formed under white structures.

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