According to \u201cKeywords for African American Studies\u201d, two essential keywords within African American Studies are, unsurprisingly, \u201cdiaspora\u201d and \u201crace\u201d. These keywords are at the foundation of the binary between Black male identity and the United States. Alluding to the diaspora and focusing on race, in this excerpt from \u201cThe Fire Next Time\u201d, James Baldwin affirms this binary but shows that it collapses when the young Black man realizes that he must fall into a minimized identity\u2014what he calls \u201ca gimmick\u201d\u2014 to survive.<\/p>\r\n
Even though the diaspora is not explicitly discussed in this passage, Baldwin alludes to it by creating distance between himself and the United States. He refers to the United States as \u201cthis republic\u201d and \u201cthis country\u201d. He strays from any possession or affiliation. In contrast, he speaks on race without hesitance. He writes \u201cI was icily determined\u2026to die and go to Hell before I would let any white man spit on me\u201d. An understanding of these keywords lays the groundwork for the binary between Black male identity and the United States.<\/p>\r\n
By using progressive diction to enforce logic, Baldwin proclaims the universality of his explanation to all Black men in the United States. For example, he writes \u201cI did not intend to allow the white people of this country to tell me who I was, and limit me that way, and polish me off that way. And yet, of course, at the same time, I was being spat on and defined and described and limited\u201d (Baldwin). The use of \u201cand yet, of course\u201d in this sentence enforces an assumption of understanding and universality. His logic progresses through this transition, leaving no room for confusion.<\/p>\r\n
Further, Baldwin\u2019s use of em dashes maneuver time and emphasize the development of this conflict throughout (his, and) Black male life. In all three instances that he pauses mid-sentence, he references the past. He writes, \u201cI was icily determined\u2014more determined, really, than I then knew\u2014never to make my peace with the ghetto\u201d. These transfers to the past show that the conflict between his identity and the United States was already budding. These repetitive reflections reinforce that the binary was always there.<\/p>\r\n
In the end, these elements apply a gravity to his collapse of the binary, when he states: \u201cEvery Negro boy\u2014in my situation during those years, at least\u2014who reaches this point realizes, at once, profoundly, because he wants to live, that he stands in great peril and must find, with speed, a \u201cthing\u201d, a gimmick, to lift him out, to start him on his way.\u201d Here, the binary collapses because, to survive, the Black male has to shape his identity in a way that the United States will accept. The conflict between Black male identity and the United States still exists, but the first must give into the other. Through these elements, Baldwin applies unavoidability and universality to this claim.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
According to \u201cKeywords for African American Studies\u201d, two essential keywords within African American Studies are, unsurprisingly, \u201cdiaspora\u201d and \u201crace\u201d. These keywords are at the foundation of the binary between Black male identity and the United States. Alluding to the diaspora and focusing on race, in this excerpt from \u201cThe Fire Next Time\u201d, James Baldwin affirms … Continue reading Baldwin on Black Male Identity in the United States<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3837,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145909],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3837"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}