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- On being called a “ n****r” “Who is the n****r?” It’s a question Baldwin powerfully and succinctly answers in this interview from the 1963 documentary “Take This Hammer.”
- On how systemic racism works. In this clip from a 1968 episode of “The Dick Cavett Show,” Baldwin deftly explains the realities of racism in America: “I don’t know what most white people in this country feel, but I can only include what they feel from the state of their institutions.”
- On a black president. In a 1965 debate with William F. Buckley at Cambridge University, Baldwin shares his vision on the prospect of a black president as suggested by Robert Kennedy (40 years before the election of Barack Obama).
- On the “Negro Problem” Here, speaking to Dr. Kenneth Clark in 1963, Baldwin describes the experience of meeting a 16-year-old black boy who declared: “‘I’ve got no country.
Jun 14, 2022 · An advocate for equity and acceptance, James Baldwin was an American essayist, novelist, playwright and social critic. Here are 30 James Baldwin quotes that will bring you closer to humanity.
Here are some quotes from James Baldwin, most from over half a century ago, that are particularly resonant today.
- On Black Americans: “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”
- On ignorance: “It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
- On oppression: “Whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.”
- On rejecting victimhood: “Perhaps the turning point in one’s life is realizing that to be treated like a victim is not necessarily to become one.”
Dec 20, 2023 · Baldwin’s eloquent and direct style of writing and speaking tackled issues of race, freedom, and human rights with a depth and intensity that continues to resonate today.
15 Copy quote. One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own. James A. Baldwin. Humanity, Deny. 36 Copy quote. If I am not what you say I am, then you are not who you think you are. James A. Baldwin. Thinking, Ifs. 18 Copy quote.
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Aug 1, 2021 · In the decades following his death in 1987, the rise of movements like Black Lives Matter and ongoing discourse on race, social inequality and sexuality show that there is still a long way to go on the march to equality – and Baldwin's words are often to be found at the centre of these conversations.
