I Am Not Your Negro: James Baldwin & Race in America

    James Baldwin once said, "American history is longer, larger, more various more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it." In his documentary,  I Am Not Your Negro, he discusses the systemic racism we continue to see today, as he talks about three monumental African American figures, all known for their different approaches to social justice and equality. Similar to the documentary, 13th, it paints a picture of the harsh realities that Blacks have endured for centuries. As images of Blacks being beaten and tortured are juxtaposed with images and scenes of Whites enjoying their freedom and everyday living, one can't help but wonder how things got this bad and why they really have not improved all that much by the year 2020. Baldwin does an extraordinary job articulating the gross inequities and conditions that Blacks were faced with (and continue to face today). As he discusses Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X, it becomes evident that while they appeared to be three incredibly different men, their positions eventually became the same. Sadly, Evens was too young to witness MLK and Malcolm X sharing the same position. The three activists did not live to see the age of forty, yet their work left an indelible mark in history. At one point, Malcolm X states, "Blacks have been victims of violence at the hands of White people for 400 years, following ignorant negro preachers who think it's godlike to turn their cheek to the brute that was brutalizing us" as he was referring to MLK and his disagreement with King's peaceful approach to tackling racism. When discussing Malcolm X's feelings about MLK's approach, it was stated that "Malcolm X has said of your movement and your philosophy that it plays into the hands of the White oppressor; they are happy to hear you because it disarms the negro and fits into the stereotype of the negro." When referring to the oppressed and the oppressor, I cannot help but think of many readings and documentaries. Bettina Love's We Want To Do More Than Survive immediately comes to mind, as she constantly talks about the oppressed and the oppressor. Unfortunately, whether we are watching something from 1960 or reading an article published in 2020, it is overwhelmingly clear that we have not made much progress in our fight for social justice.

    Baldwin claims that "apathy and ignorance is the price we pay for segregation." He then goes on to point out that "I was not a racist, or so I thought- Malcolm was a racist, or so they thought- we weren't entirely different." This statement begs the question "What defines a racist?" When Blacks are defending themselves against Whites after centuries of torture, are they truly racists? Baldwin states "In America, I was only free in battle, never free to rest." This is a powerful quote as it makes me question how Blacks have had the strength to keep fighting. After so many years of torture and abuse, while constantly feeling as though you're in fight or flight mode, I can't fathom how tired and angry they must have felt and continue to feel. Baldwin also states, "When you try to stand up and look the world in the face like you had a right to be here, you have attacked the entire power structure of the western world." When Baldwin was in France, he was not confronted with the same issues and struggles that he faced in the United States. However, his family and friends were still in the western world and his conscience would not allow him to leave them to face the struggles alone.

    As images and scenes of Whites enjoying their lives were juxtaposed with images and scenes of Blacks being beaten and harassed, I could not help but think of the quote, "People prefer fantasy to a truthful recreation of their experience. People have quite enough reality to bear by simply getting through their lives, raising their children, dealing with the eternal conundrums of birth, taxes, and death."  In many images, it appeared as though Whites were forcing perfection- they resembled something you would see in a Norman Rockwell painting. It is hard to believe that they were so happy while they were murdering innocent humans whom they depended upon for cheap labor. As an image of a Black woman with a police officer's knee in her neck appeared across the screen, I immediately thought about George Floyd and the very same images that we saw just a few months ago, as he begged for his mother. Medgar Evers once said, "If we don't like what the Republicans do, we need to get in there and change it." One can only hope that with our new POTUS, things will truly take a turn for the better. When Obama became the first African American POTUS, we were filled with hope. Sadly, not much has changed. It is my hope, that we keep the momentum going and put in the work to finally create much needed systemic change with President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

    Baldwin received a standing ovation for an incredibly moving speech that he gave. Both Blacks and Whites clapped and stood up when he finished reciting these lines: "It is a terrible thing for an entire people who surrendered to the notion that 1/9th of its population is beneath them and until that moment comes, when we the Americans, we the American people, are able to accept the fact that I have to accept for example that my ancestors are both White and Black. That on that continent we are trying to form a new identity for which we need each other and that I am not a ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I am one of the people who built the country. Until the moment there is scarcely any hope for the American Dream because the people who are denied participation in it by their very presence will wreck it and if that happens it's a very grave moment for the West." Baldwin has a beautiful way with words and everything flows as a sort of stream of consciousness, whether he is writing or speaking. These words are incredibly true and they are incredibly powerful. Everyone should be afforded the "American Dream", regardless of race, sex, creed, and/or handicap. If it is only attainable to some, why would anyone want it? If this is truly "the land of the free", then we need to stop treating people like prisoners, both literally and figuratively. We have a long way to go, but we cannot give up yet. If we are tired, imagine how exhausted the oppressed must be.