James Baldwin on deluded white people

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James Baldwin on deluded white people

Sat 12 Jul 2008 by abagond

This is from “No Name in the Street” (1972) by James Baldwin. It seems as true to me now as the day when I first read it years ago:

White children, in the main, and whether they are rich or poor, grow up with a grasp of reality so feeble that they can very accurately be described as deluded – about themselves and about the world they live in. White people have managed to get through entire lifetimes in this euphoric state, but black people have not been so lucky: a black man who sees the world the way John Wayne, for example, sees it would not be an eccentric patriot, but a raving maniac. … People who cling to their delusions find it difficult, if not impossible, to learn anything worth learning: a people under the necessity of creating themselves must examine everything, and soak up learning the way the roots of a tree soak up water. As people still held in bondage must believe that “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make ye free”.

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Posted in 1970s, 1972, America, james baldwin, patriotism, white people | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on Tue 15 Jul 2008 at 14:40:09 Stephanie

James Baldwin was one man who tell it like it is whether people want to listen or not.

I admire him for his candor and honesty about the state of American affairs, especially racial matters.

RIP, James Baldwin

Stephanie B.
on Fri 18 Jul 2008 at 02:35:26 Felicity

That is true and their world is crashing around them, the system of buying and selling is falling around a lot of people’s ears. I have come to realise that UK, where I live is in a very very very bad state.
on Sat 19 Jul 2008 at 03:28:59 abagond

I like his writing, but more than that I like how he told the truth and did not play along with what people wanted to believe.
on Thu 5 Feb 2009 at 16:00:24 Matari

W_O_R_D!

: ))
on Wed 15 Jul 2009 at 20:34:24 Josh

I am reading “Another Country” right now and, as a white man, I feel that Baldwin has a pretty accurate view of the misconceptions that both races espouse behind close doors about one another. He is a beautiful, insightful writer and I am glad that I bought this book while walking on Astor Place one hot afternoon last month . . .
on Fri 5 Feb 2010 at 00:41:44 Shakilah Sanders

I’m a young lady who chose this wonderful man to do on mi blavk history project. I choose him because of his lovley bookes and quotes. I love this man and all his accomplishments