The Role Of Racism In James Baldwin's Notes Of A Native Son

Racism has existed through the world for centuries and has been the primary reason for numerous conflicts, wars and other human tragedies all over the planet. From 16th to 19th-century blacks were taken from their homes and families and taken for the slave trade. They were often overworked, beaten and killed. Being black was not the best thing you could be in 1950’s. Racism is not something that is inborn, it is what people created. In the article, “We’re all racist. But racism by white people matters more”, Mona Chalabi says “I don’t think white people are born with some sort of racism gene – the main thing that explains those different scores is the way that society has geared up our brains differently.” It is our society that is ignorant,

increasing the gap between black and white. Several African Americans had been fighting against racial discrimination for centuries. James Baldwin and Brent Staples both grew up in a society where whites held all the power. Whites thought that blacks were born to serve the white, to serve as a slave, not being free and working for someone. During the events, blacks were discriminated, as a result The Civil Rights movements were active. What happened to Staples and Baldwin happened typically to every other black person living in the United States, the only difference was when they were discriminated, how they were discriminated and to what extent.
In the essay, “Notes of a native son”, author James Baldwin talks about his father, himself and personal troll of hatred.

He does not know about his father well because he hardly spoke with him. While others describe his father as handsome, proud, ingrown but for him his father looks like an African tribal chieftain. He feels that his father is the harshest man he has ever known. Baldwin never felt glad to see his father when he returned home. Up until this point, Baldwin was not fully aware of the outside world, but after his father’s death, he understood the meanings of his father’s warnings, he discovered the weight of white people and felt awful to live with them. His father’s temper was a mercy of his pride to never trust a white person. His father’s death changed his life. He started working in defense plants, living among southerners, white and black. After he became independent, he started to experience racism. Similarly, Brent Staples, writer of “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” had also not experienced racism before he arrived at the University of Chicago. When he was first away from home, he was not familiar with the language of fear because, in Chester, Pennsylvania, the small angry industrial town, he was scarcely noticeable against a backdrop of gang warfare, street knifing, and murders. As a result, he grew up as a good boy. Both the writers experience racism when they were exposed to the outside world. Consequently, Baldwin experienced it when he

started working in defense plants and Staples experience it when he arrived at the University of Chicago.
When Baldwin first went to the self-serving restaurants, he was denied service because he was an African-American, and all the waiters waited for three times for him to realize.

He stood with Princeton boys waiting before the counter. In the fourth time, he realized that nothing has ever been served to him and they waited for him to realize that he was the only Negro present there. Later, he talks about his white friend who took him to the movie This Land is Mine, then they went to the “American diner”. When they ordered hamburger and coffee, the bartender said, “We don’t serve Negroes here” (57). After hearing such sardonic comment, Baldwin walked out. When he re-entered street something happened. He felt like everyone was moving towards him, against him. He experienced physical sensation when he saw the white gleaming face. He felt like his head to neck connection had been cut. He wanted to curse white people. Then he entered the glittering restaurant, and frightened the waitress, he looked at her frightened face, her frightened eyes. The waitress said “We don’t serve Negroes here” (58) with apologies and fear, which made him colder, murderous. He felt like strangling her. He felt a thousand bells ringing, as the waitress stepped closer he threw a water mug full of water and hurled out. He was not afraid to show his anger. Baldwin was discriminated in the public for being black, he was ready to strangle people, but he was afraid of his own thought. While Staples was

discriminated in the public because of how he looked and dressed. He tried to take precaution to be less threatening. The Staples first victim was a woman, well dressed in her early 20’s. Even though Staples maintained the fair distance between him and the women, she gave a worried glance. Then he came to know unwieldy inheritance that he came to be. He realized his ability to alter public space in ugly ways just because of his dress up. He said “It is not altogether clear to me how I reached the ripe old age of twenty-two without being conscious of the lethality nighttime pedestrians attributed to me” (396). People might have thought of him as a mugger, rapist, or worse. He had never imagined that people look at him in such a way. Although, he looked scary to people because of his dress up, but in reality he was barely able to take a knife to raw chicken let alone hold it to a person’s throat. He felt as if he was perceived as dangerous. When he was a journalist in Chicago, he was mistaken for a burglar, in addition to that, before his interview, when he went to a jewelry store, a woman looked at him with bulging eyes and cursory look, as a result he looked around and bade her Goodnight. However, he was not directly discriminated nor looked down because at the time African American was mostly muggers and robbers, because it was quite a modernized period of time, and especially in New York, people tend to be cautious of crimes in the streets, which shifted the focus to African American.
Racism has occurred for centuries, but there is still a chance to end it. People that support racism are morally wrong to do so. World leaders need to focus on how to improve the situation of poor blacks in America, not through compensations, but by education, opportunities, and hard work. Racism should end because if it continues, it can split the unity of races. I believe that all races have equal opportunities as other races.