Summary
Baldwin begins his text in the form of a letter. He addresses it, “Dear James,” and prefaces the letter to come by noting that he has had a hard time putting it together, going through multiple drafts before getting to this one. The face of the person he is addressing it to haunts him. It is soon revealed to be that of his nephew James. Baldwin goes on to describe some of his nephew’s qualities, which are also shared with James' father, Baldwin’s brother: he is “tough, dark, vulnerable, moody” and wants to avoid appearing “soft” at any cost. Baldwin notes that his own father had these stubborn qualities as well. He transitions abruptly to describing his father’s tragic fate and negative qualities; he died after a terrible life and before getting to see his grandson, James, because he “really believed what white people said about him.” Baldwin contrasts this attitude with his brother and nephew’s outlooks, which spring from a new era. This new period is characterized by a move away from agricultural work and into cities, and is partly defined by a rejection of religious sentiments. Baldwin thus connects his own family’s trajectory and growth with that of African Americans across the country. Baldwin ends this first paragraph about his family by warning his nephew that his only downfall could be “believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger.” Although his nephew may have inherited a new and better world, he faces the danger of internalizing the destructive rhetoric still used against African Americans.
Baldwin goes on to reflect on his brother’s childhood and evolution. He remembers carrying him as a child, and emphasizes how many different phases of life he has seen his brother through. By loving his brother and watching him grow, he gained a particular perspective on human pain over time. For example, Baldwin has special insight into the secret torment that lies behind his brother’s happy countenance. He is aware of the history, both personal and more general, that has shaped his brother as he is today. Baldwin laments that he cannot resolve this deeper pain in his brother, which was instilled in him by the harsh environment and racial prejudice he grew up with.
Baldwin uses the example of his brother’s hidden pain to argue that the greatest crime of his white countrymen is not that they destroyed so many individual lives, but also that they refused to recognize this destruction. He acknowledges that all humans have always faced hardship to some degree and, in general, it is necessary to be tough in the face of death and destruction. Pain is, in some ways, inevitable. However, what he objects to most is that those who directly caused severe hardship for African Americans still feel innocent of any crime. In other words, white people who put in place and supported a system that repressed African Americans do not feel culpable for the consequences of this system. Baldwin states, “it is the innocence which constitutes the crime.” White Americans’ presumption of innocence is the “crime” he is accusing them of. They are to blame for taking no responsibility for their actions.
Baldwin connects the general oppressive conditions caused by white Americans to the circumstances of his nephew’s birth. He addresses himself to James as “my dear namesake” and explains to him that his countrymen were the ones who caused him to be born in circumstances similar to those found in a Dickens novel. Thus, he emphasizes the ways in which he is not only writing a letter but also telling a story to his nephew about his life and family history. He also reiterates that he is writing the letter not to those “innocent countrymen” who perpetuate a racist system, but directly to James. This is partly because white Americans have tended to overlook the lives of boys like James so far. Baldwin does not believe they would be interested in the story, anyway.
He continues telling James the story of his birth, after having established that this is for his own sake only. He relates that James was born fifteen years ago. His parents had many reasons to feel burdened by this birth, since bringing a black boy into the world was an inevitable challenge in this racist country. However, they did not feel heavyhearted but rather rejoiced in the birth of their son. He was loved immediately and fiercely. Part of the motivation for this expression of love was to strengthen him against the rest of the world, which would not show him such affection. Baldwin emphasizes the lesson inherent in this story: although circumstances may seem difficult, loving one another is an important source of strength and solace for African Americans. In fact, this goes so deep that Baldwin tells his nephew he must survive “because we love you.”
Baldwin then goes on to address systematic racism once again, as it affects his nephew. He makes his main point: his nephew faces a bleak future simply because he is black, not because of any other qualities of his. Skin color thus represents an insurmountable limitation in this country. Baldwin notes that in his life so far, James has faced numerous rejections and external definitions of his worth because of his race. However, he also reminds him that, ultimately, his experience is only his own to define—neither Baldwin nor his white countrymen can define James’ life for him. Baldwin warns him not to take anyone’s “word for anything, including mine” and to trust only his own experience.
This warning extends to how James should approach the concept of integration. Baldwin pleads with him to remember that he should not feel pressured to become like white people or to be accepted by them in order to feel worthwhile. Although he may face enormous pressure to conform to such standards in order to be accorded worth by his countrymen, Baldwin encourages him to remember his own roots and define his own life independently. He sets up an important dichotomy: James should not feel that white people must accept him, but rather that they need to prove themselves and be accepted by him. However, Baldwin does encourage James to extend love to these oppressors. He argues that they do not understand their own history and thus fail to change it themselves; they must be encouraged and accepted by African Americans, who do understand the nuances of America’s racist history. Baldwin sympathizes with these white Americans, for whom a change in the status of the black man would signify a fundamental shift in their worldview. He explains that upending the power balance would make white people feel as though they have lost their identity. Thus, they have to be treated gently.
Baldwin ends by encouraging James to remember that white men are his “brothers—your lost, younger brothers.” This relates back to his point that white men’s presumption of innocence leaves them vulnerable and unready to face a shift in the social order of the country. It is through love that Baldwin instructs James to teach these “brothers” to see themselves the way he sees them, and the way they really are: culpable for the oppression of African Americans. He also reminds James that America is his home, even though it has treated him so unfairly. He should work to make America better, instead of seeking to go elsewhere for better treatment. Baldwin acknowledges that this will be a very difficult task but reassures James by citing his family background of strong, working men and great poets who faced even worse odds. Strength and creativity is in his blood. Finally, he concludes by noting that freedom will only truly come to America as a whole once every person within it—both African Americans trapped by systematic oppression and white Americans trapped by their ignorance—is finally free.
Analysis
Baldwin begins his letter by emphasizing how difficult it was to write. He claims, “I have begun this letter five times and torn it up five times,” using hyperbole to strengthen his point. Instead of simply stating that this letter was hard to face, he concretizes the difficulty by assigning it a number of attempts and failures. This sentence also makes use of parallelism by repeating “five times” in reference to both actions. The use of parallelism reinforces the effect of the hyperbole: it emphasizes the importance of this letter by giving Baldwin’s approach to it more of a ritualistic quality. We know right away that this document was both very important and very difficult for Baldwin to write. It is close to Baldwin’s heart, but treats painful, difficult subjects.
In his first paragraph, Baldwin spends some time establishing the family connection relevant to the letter. He is writing to his fifteen-year-old nephew, who reminds him of his brother and his father. This portion of the letter involves a nostalgic reflection on family history and the ways in which his nephew, James, fits into it. But Baldwin transitions abruptly from tender reminiscing about his father to the shocking statement, “Well, he is dead, he never saw you, and he had a terrible life.” This tone shift alerts readers to the harsh realities Baldwin will be addressing. Although Baldwin’s letter will involve some heartfelt reflection on his personal family history, it will also entail facing difficult truths about hardships his family members have faced because of their race. The letter balances both warm moments and bitter ones.
It is also important to note that this text is directly addressed to Baldwin’s nephew, and not to a general public. Baldwin begins with a very personal address to James. He goes on to use phrases like, “I am sure that your father has told you something about all that,” which emphasize that James was the only public he had in mind when composing this text. Later, Baldwin more explicitly states, “I am writing this letter to you, to try to tell you something about how to handle them, for most of them do not yet really know that you exist.” Here, Baldwin makes clear why he has addressed the text the way he has: he does not believe that a wider, white American public would take any interest in this subject, anyway. In fact, the “them” he is overlooking does not even know that boys like James exist. Baldwin’s intended audience is also connected to the structure of the letter. He starts by addressing his personal family history, which brings attention to individuals whose lives are overlooked by white Americans. Baldwin does not attempt to argue for why these histories deserve to be listened to by anyone who may not already be interested; instead, he simply discusses them on his own terms, with only his nephew in mind.
Although he keeps his audience narrow, Baldwin does allude to public figures that help him to generalize his argument in the course of his letter. For example, he cites the sociologist E. Franklin Frazier when describing his family’s move into cities. Frazier coined the term “the cities of destruction” to refer to the ways in which this movement of African Americans into urban spaces, which was accompanied by optimism that it would improve the prospects for the migrants, could in fact be destructive for them. This allusion helps to generalize certain details that could otherwise seem specific to Baldwin’s family. It is not only his relatives who are affected by the destructiveness of cities, but rather all African Americans who experienced this movement. This allusion thus supports the balance that defines Baldwin’s letter—between an individual focus on his own family, and a broader point about the treatment of all African Americans. Baldwin also refers to Charles Dickens in order to give a frame of reference for how badly African Americans are treated in America: he compares the situation of African Americans to the settings for Dickens novels, in which poor English orphans suffered great hardships in industrial settings. This allusion also helps to generalize his point about his family’s situation. In addition, it gives his reader greater context for understanding the present situation, by referencing a fictional past familiar to most readers.
Baldwin’s discussion of his brother’s life also helps to establish his authority as a narrator. He is able to detail all of the things he remembers about his brother’s life because he grew up with him. In fact, he notes that even his brother does not remember many of these details. It is Baldwin who has kept the most extensive and accurate record of his family history. Baldwin has a privileged position as the keeper of his family record. When describing some of these moments, Baldwin makes use of figurative language that helps to emphasize the impact the environment had on his brother’s life. For example, he writes, “no one’s hand can wipe away those tears he sheds invisibly today, which one hears in his laughter and in his speech and in his songs.” Once again, this line helps Baldwin to move from a tender reflection on his childhood with his brother to a broader societal commentary; as a child, he could literally wipe away his brother’s tears, but today no one can resolve his pain because it is less concrete. His brother no longer cries over childhood problems like falling down, but rather finds himself constantly tormented by the intangible pain of living in an oppressive society.
