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The Blackman's Burden by
"There is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood-one has the choice, merely, of living with it consciously or surrendering to it." James Baldwin (1924 – 1987) "There is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood-one has the choice, merely, of living with it consciously or surrendering to it." James Baldwin (1924 – 1987) In his essay "Stranger in the Village," James Baldwin likens his feelings of "loneliness" and being out of place in a tiny Swiss village to the black man’s general feeling of being a stranger in an unfamiliar world created by the white man. Baldwin explains that a white man, unlike a black man, can never feel like a stranger wherever he goes, by virtue of his assumed eminence and position (as authority). He (Baldwin) therefore makes a connection between the Swiss village and America (white America) through their shared eminence and influence. Baldwin writes, "America comes out of Europe, but these people have never seen America. Yet they move with an authority which I shall never have; and they regard me, quite rightly, not only as a stranger in their village but as a suspect late-comer… and they cannot be from the point of view of power, strangers anywhere in the world; they have made the modern world, in effect, even if they do not know it." Baldwin’s position is, therefore, that whites are able to maintain their eminence and influence by virtue of their position (as authority) regardless of their geographical location in the world. This tiny Swiss village is, therefore the West by virtue of their shared eminence and influence. Baldwin opines that blacks are strangers in the white man’s world, regardless of whether it is the little Swiss village or a big American city. In both places, Baldwin is considered to be both an exotic rarity and an aberration. However, he states that the "difference" between the two places lies in the "intentions" behind the behavior of whites in both places. The "difference" is the American experience, he asserts. Baldwin writes about how the shouting of the word "Neger," in the Swiss village, does not occasion the same feelings of hostility as the word "Nigger" does in the "American air." He ponders the reason for this "discrepancy" since the opposite if anything at all, should be the case… he is after all, not a stranger in America but a definite stranger in the Swiss village. Baldwin also makes the assertion that the "loneliness" of the black American is unique. He stresses that the black American, unlike blacks from other parts of the world, is a stranger everywhere! Baldwin writes, "The American Negro slave is unique among the black men of the world in that his past was taken from him, almost literally, at one blow." He asserts that the future is the only thing the American Negro has, to look forward to, since his past is mired in acute obscurity as a result of slavery. Baldwin writes about how any American Negro wishing to trace his ancestry back to Africa "will find his journey through time abruptly arrested by the signature on the bill of sale which served as the entrance paper for his ancestors." In contrast, he asserts that there are Haitians, Cubans and Brazilians (unlike American Negroes), from what he has been told, who can trace their ancestry back to African Kings, and nationalities such as the Yoruba. Baldwin also writes about the black’s man insistence "that the white man cease to regard him as an exotic rarity and recognize him as a human being." He asserts that the black man has long ago regained his identity and is resolved more than ever, to regaining his dignity from the white man. The black man’s determination to regain his dignity, as Baldwin asserts, is equally matched by the white man’s resolve to keep it from him. He attributes this resolve on the part of the white man to his (the white man’s) desire to maintain his eminence through the continued portrayal of the black man as being less than human. This, Baldwin maintains, ensures the preservation of the white man’s simplicity and innocence, thereby rendering all attempts by his victims to call him to task over his atrocities, in fecund. However, the white man’s continued stereotyping of the black man has only helped the black man realize the very essence of his humanity through the exposure of the white man’s insecurities, as a function of his (the white man’s) true feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. From my personal experience in America, I too agree that the black man remains a stranger. Replacing the silver shackles with "gold" ones does not elevate the state or condition of the oppressed. On the contrary, it only serves to further widen the racial gulf that already exists between the "slave master" and the "slave." The white man’s obsession with finding a way to control the black man as he has done with other groups is firmly at the center of the racial divide. The presence of the black man, one can say, is a form of insanity, which overtakes white men. In writing about the changing face of the world, Baldwin writes about how the world is evolving into a place that is being populated more by non-whites than by whites. He asserts that there is an evolving socio-political and economic transformation of the world from a Western ideal to an Eastern ideal. Baldwin writes, "This world is no longer white and will never be white again." Baldwin seems to suggest that the emerging socio-political, religious and economic pluralism will ensure that the Western ideal of assimilation (socio-cultural, religious & economic), which has resulted in white domination of other groups, will not be the standard ideal of the future global landscape. The white man, obviously aware of the threats to his eminence has characteristically responded by way of economic and invariably cultural globalization (or Westernization as I prefer to call it). In his attempt to ensure the "success" of his latest undertaking, the white man has employed, the long tested strategy of divide and conquer, with a view to breaking the ranks of non-whites worldwide. The key and operative term in effect right now is "Transitional Whites," whether it’s the Arabs in Africa and the so-called Middle-East (North-Eastern Africa), the Asians (East Indians, Chinese, Japanese etc), the Spanish whites (in North/South America and Europe) and other lighter-toned races, the white man views them all as "allies!" He is unperturbed about the Aborigines or Native Indian Tribes world wide, as he has effectively "handled" them… but the black man remains his greatest and most contentious adversary. He has tried just about everything but like the legendary Phoenix bird, the black man continues to rise from the ashes. I am particularly of the opinion that James Baldwin’s prophecy will ultimately come to pass. The world shall be made sane again when the true black man, regardless of his religion, class, or geographical location stands up once again… to be counted. Yes, the world shall indeed be made sane again and the righteous shall flourish… while the wicked shall undoubtedly perish!
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