Summary
In his last section, Baldwin opens by questioning the Nation of Islam’s funding. He is no longer reflecting on his personal experiences, but rather considering the social context of this movement. He recalls that at a Muslim rally in the 1960s, the head of the American Nazi party contributed twenty dollars to the cause. To Baldwin, this indicates that racial prejudice is the same, no matter where it comes from, and is always a recipe for murder. He claims that any time a group is allowed to treat another group as inferior because of its race, it will commit boundless atrocities. For example, he explains that this was what the Nazis did: they may have used unusual methods for the time, but their goal of wiping out an entire race echoed all previous racial conflicts. On this note, Baldwin warns that American Negroes who adopt a similar attitude toward their white countrymen risk going too far; by doing to others what has been done to them, they risk their “dignity” and “the health of their souls.” Overall, Baldwin’s message is that those who debase others end up debasing themselves in the process. Thus, because any racial conflict can lead to atrocities and can erode the conscience of those perpetrating these atrocities, he cautions African Americans against this approach.
Baldwin goes on to predict that African Americans are unlikely to rise to power. He explains that the “American Negro” is unique because his situation is specific to America; he does not have his own land because he was brought to a new land to work for the people there, and thus cannot be equated to Africans struggling for independence anywhere in Africa. Baldwin notes that African Americans’ names reflect this history, as well. For example, he is named “Baldwin” only because a white Christian named Baldwin originally kidnapped his ancestors and converted them to Christianity while bringing them to America. Overall, he characterizes the “American Negro” as “a kidnapped pagan,” meaning that African Americans come from pagan ancestry but were kidnapped and forced to adopt Christianity. Baldwin laments that the black man remains the most hated person in America, with the possible exception of American Indians. He does not believe that African Americans’ situation can be changed without radical changes occurring in the American political and social structure. In other words, he does not believe that the Nation of Islam movement can effect the changes it promises if it does not address these deep-seated national institutions.
Baldwin is aware that many of his peers do not emotionally accept his own belief that social change can only be effected by institutional changes. He knows that many African Americans have discovered the power to intimidate, and are inclined to use this power, instead, to gain some measure of respect. In his time, Americans had begun to refer to the phenomenon of the “new Negro.” According to Baldwin, the “new Negro” does not actually refer to a change in African Americans, but rather to a newfound difficulty white Americans have encountered in keeping African Americans down. To white Americans, this may seem like a surprising development. But African Americans have always known they would not simply be given the things they needed. As Baldwin explains, giving requires risking oneself, and white Americans are not willing to put themselves at risk for the sake of African Americans. Any gestures white Americans have made have been “tokenism,” instead. Baldwin dismisses the 1954 Supreme Court decision to outlaw segregation in schools as tokenism, for example, because it only came about out of a sense of necessity. Black Americans see such actions and come to believe that they cannot expect any true good will from white Americans. They feel that their only option, then, is to cause as much chaos as possible and try to shatter the illusion of the American dream.
The false promise of the American dream is part of a root problem Baldwin identifies in America. He explains that Americans cannot make the dream a reality because they are in denial about so many things. For example, Americans claim they want to be equal, but in actuality everyone prefers the idea of being superior to someone else. On a more general level, Baldwin believes that few people truly want to be free, because real freedom is hard to bear. Baldwin relates the failure of the American dream to America’s failures abroad. He points out that much of the rest of the world views America as an “unmitigated disaster.” For example, Cuban peasants or Spanish poets have a negative view of America because it did not help independence or art flourish in their country. Baldwin blames many of America’s harmful actions abroad on its preoccupation with the Russian threat. But he points out that America’s overreaction to this threat has only driven more people to identify with Russia and its Communist cause, instead of the capitalism of the United States.
Despite America’s many failures in domestic and foreign affairs, Baldwin holds out hope that people can become better than they are. He describes a general pattern of the oppressed throwing off one oppressor, only to then find that they are now under the control of another. But he also notes that the oppressed are remarkably capable of shouldering such burdens. The most important thing is to recognize and accept the reality of this burden, instead of attempting to deny it. He describes the current age as one of revolution, because so many people are no longer willing to tolerate their miserable circumstances. Baldwin calls on America to use its power to help such revolutions along. He warns that any attempt to oppose these revolutions would be dangerous for America, since their momentum has already been built up so much.
Beneath all of the foreign conflicts and racial issues facing America, Baldwin identifies a fundamental fear of death. He analyzes the American fear of the “Russian menace” as one rooted in the denial of human reality: that all life is tragic, because it ends in death. Baldwin notes that many people go to great lengths to escape this fundamental truth, including turning to the church, wars, nationalism, etc. But, to him, a better solution to the problem of mortality is to face and accept it, and attempt to live one’s best life in order to earn one’s eventual death. Baldwin links a fear of death to white American’s general denial of reality, which also allows them to continue oppressing African Americans without taking responsibility for their actions. Not only do they deny mortality, but they also deny their own bloody history; for example, Americans buy into Europeans’ conceptions of race, even though they themselves live in a multiracial country. They believe they can achieve a purely white nation, and deny the reality that they do not live in a white nation at all. Baldwin warns that this approach can only lead to sterility and decay. On the other hand, if America were to accept its multiracial nature, it could rise above Europe with a number of new achievements. Only by recognizing and freeing African Americans can America be great.
White men’s definition of progress leads them to misunderstand the actual situation of African Americans. Even liberal white Americans assume that African Americans achieving the same things white men have achieved would represent the greatest progress. They assume that African Americans want to become exactly like white Americans. However, in reality, black men merely want the freedom to be themselves. Once again, Baldwin insists that the best way forward is to show white Americans the truth they refuse to see, through love. African Americans cannot accept to live like white Americans because white Americans live a lie; they deny their reality and live by a number of hypocrisies, such as proclaiming to believe in freedom above all while enslaving a whole race of people. White men are poor models of how to live one’s best life. Instead, white Americans must learn to live like African Americans. They must be shown and taught new standards. Overall, African Americans need white Americans only insofar as they need to be given more power, especially in politics. In exchange, white Americans need African Americans in order to move forward as a nation.
Baldwin ends his letter by emphasizing the ways in which African Americans' history of struggle contains both pain and beauty. He notes that, without suffering, one cannot grow and discover who one really is. Because of this, at least African Americans have a solid sense of who they are. They have been able to persevere and teach their children how to love because they understand that love and beauty are all that matter in this short life full of suffering. They have gained great force and cunning by facing down the tyranny of white supremacy. Clearly, such people are not inferior to white men—in fact, they contain a knowledge of beauty that white men lack. However, Baldwin also warns against assuming that this makes African Americans superior. Instead, he explains that he admires them not for their race but for their intelligence, spiritual force, and beauty. It is these characteristics that the whole country should strive to emulate, instead of focusing on the ways in which race divides the nation. Moreover, African Americans also have the advantage of never having subscribed to the lies that white Americans built their country on; they do not buy into the idea that America has always been a great, free nation. Thus, they are better positioned to lead the country ahead with a full grasp of its reality. They are also better positioned not to succumb to hatred, since it is more natural to feel pity rather than hatred for a group of people that lives in such firm denial. Baldwin concludes that the biggest problem in America is the “color line,” as W.E.B Du Bois wrote sixty years ago. White Americans must reexamine all of their beliefs and attempt to reform their ways. And black Americans must recognize and make use of the beauty that comes from their struggle. Otherwise, African Americans will turn to vengeance, and, as was quoted in a slave song inspired by the Bible, “No more water, the fire next time!” In other words, if vengeance is the only available path, violence and destruction will prevail.
Analysis
With this third and final section, Baldwin continues to shift toward a broader, more analytical, and finally more polemical approach to his topic. In his first sentence, he makes clear that he is invoking more traditional analysis; for example, he begins by questioning where the Nation of Islam gets its funding. This line of questioning is very different from his previous approach, which considered more intangible factors like whether the morals of the Nation of Islam were reprehensible, or whether its members were self-aware enough. Now, Baldwin is analyzing concrete aspects of the issue in order to provide less personal and more conclusive arguments. He goes on to make more sweeping statements without as much context from his personal life, such as “the glorification of one race and the consequent debasement of another—or others—always has been and always will be a recipe for murder.” These kinds of conclusions consider social impact and historical examples more heavily than previous statements that drew more from Baldwin’s personal experience.
He also shifts to a global scale for his discussion. Baldwin began the letter by thinking small, starting from his own experience. He then expanded out to consider the general experience of African Americans across the country. Now, he brings into play America’s foreign affairs, as well. He begins to consider issues on a world scale. For example, he notes that “internationally, for many millions of people, we are an unmitigated disaster.” Not only is America disastrous in its treatment of African Americans, but also in its treatment of foreign nations. Notably, pre-Castro Cuba and Spain have reason to be angry with the United States because it took the side of anti-communists, and often supported illiberal regimes. Baldwin makes the bold statement that America has frequently used the “Russian menace” as an excuse for immoral actions abroad. In other words, the Cold War has allowed America to get involved in the affairs of other countries in a more invasive way than ever before, and often on the side of undemocratic principles. Baldwin’s scope has widened at this point in the essay to account for such global actions, which reflect America's broader moral problems.
Baldwin adopts a wider scope in regards to the subject matter he addresses, as well. He begins to address the question of mortality, which he believes underlies all of the problems he has raised thus far. In fact, he states, “Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives…in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.” With this quote, Baldwin moves on to consider not just a wider range of impact, as he did when he considered the United States’ impact abroad, but also a more profound level of analysis. What, he asks, is the fundamental issue behind America’s deepest problems? This takes his argument to a new, more psychological level. At this point, Baldwin has invoked personal evidence, political evidence, historical evidence, international evidence—and now he considers psychological factors, as well. His essay functions on numerous levels of analysis.
Stylistically, Baldwin makes use of vivid images to illustrate his points. He breaks from the more descriptive and analytical format developed in these latter two portions of the text to use colorful imagery and figurative language. Most frequently, he employs a list format to provide readers with a barrage of images that support his point. For example, when discussing the horrors of African Americans’ history, he writes, “This past, the Negro’s past, of rope, fire, torture, castration, infanticide, rape; death and humiliation; fear by day and night, fear as deep as the marrow of the bone…” Baldwin does not simply repeat that this past was difficult, but rather makes this truth more vivid and dramatic by referring to a number of symbols and recurring horrors that defined this past for those who lived it. This technique lifts Baldwin’s text above a simple essay format and reminds readers of his personal touch and his creativity, which also infuses the style of his letter.
This second letter ends with a summary of all the different time periods that have been called upon throughout. Baldwin refers again to when he was young and “dealing with my buddies in those wine- and urine-stained hallways,” which caused him to wonder, “What will happen to all that beauty?” He repeated this question while sitting at Elijah’s table later in life. This conclusion brings these two time periods together by connecting them with this question. It also emphasizes the importance of this question, which shaped two different times in Baldwin’s life. Baldwin answers his own question at the very end of the letter, with a quote. The quote warns, symbolically, that if things do not change then “fire” will come instead of “water” next time. The fact that Baldwin ends with a quote that takes inspiration from the Bible is particularly poignant, because much of his essay rejects the promises of religion. The quote thus serves as a particularly daunting warning; if white Americans cannot do better, then African Americans will turn to the problematic base of Christianity in order to justify their dangerous vengeance.
