- Traditionally, examination of the black Civil Rights movement focuses on the careers of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Dr. King and Malcolm X had very different ideas on how to solve the racial discrimination in America. Dr. King was an integrationist who used non-violent protest to focus the media on the moral wrongs the dominant white society imposed on blacks. Dr. King believed that exposing the outrages of segregation would force the government to mend the system. Malcolm X was a separationist who believed in fighting back when attacked and advocated that the blacks in this country should take what by all means is rightfully theirs. The white system was corrupt, argued Malcolm X, and blacks should start their own system rather than wait for the white society to internally fix theirs.
- Somewhere in the middle of these two ideological extremes was James Baldwin. Baldwin's personal views were a mixture of both the ideas and ideals of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
- Baldwin often struck the same chords that Malcolm X did. Baldwin, in The Fire Next Time, wrote, "I was icily determined . . . to die and go to Hell before I would let any white man spit on me, before I would accept my 'place' in this republic" (Ticket 341). Baldwin himself saw many similarities between Malcolm X and himself (Ticket 358). Both Baldwin and Malcolm X were angry, intelligent black men who never let white society off the hook. Both were not willing to wait for white society to "solve" the Negro Question, and they both realized that the dominant white culture in America was not something they wanted to be a part of. Baldwin echoed Malcolm X when he wrote,
- Things are as bad as the Muslims say they are -- in fact, they are worse. . . . There is no reason that black men should be expected to be more patient, more forbearing, more farseeing than whites; indeed, quite the contrary. (Ticket 358)
James Baldwin was, however, an "integrationist," though he was not personally comfortable with that term (Ticket 497). Baldwin came back to the United States from France in the early 1960s to take part in Dr. King's marches and protests. Baldwin did not believe in the separation of the races. He believed that we all have to live together and love each other, not as blacks and white, but as human beings. Baldwin said, "From my point of view -- no label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and indeed, no religion is more important than the human being" (James Baldwin, film). He also said, "All men are brothers -- that's the truth" (James Baldwin, film).
- These two sides of James Baldwin seem contradictory, yet he passionately believed both of them. Baldwin had "a will toward love, peace, and reconciliation in spite of the rage and bitterness that racism inspired" (Foner and Garraty 75). Baldwin was an intelligent man who realized that unless we accept love we are all lost: blacks, whites, everyone. He understood the need for love because he understood what hate had accomplished. Baldwin knew that whites (and blacks) had to examine the fear and hatred that they had inside of them. The key to solving the problem, Baldwin argued, was finding out why the white society had to oppress the blacks throughout history. White society had to examine its own history of oppression and it had to come to grips with it. When the program of "Black History Month" was first created in the 1980s, Baldwin suggested that it would be more beneficial to have a "White History Month" (World). Baldwin argued that nothing could ever really change in America until white society realized that it could no longer exist by placing dominance and power over compassion and community. Baldwin put this point very eloquently when he wrote,
- White people in this country will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved this -- which will not be tomorrow and may very well be never -- the Negro problem will no longer exist, for it will no longer be needed. (Ticket 340)
- Despite the fact that Baldwin's personal views on the Civil Rights movement were a combination of the beliefs of its two most popular leaders, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Baldwin was never really accepted by either camp. Baldwin was seen by many followers of Dr. King as a radical. His 1964 play, Blues for Mister Charlie, ended with a preacher going to the pulpit with a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other, and the preacher says, "I've got the Bible and the gun, one of these is going to work" (James Baldwin, film). This was far more radical than what John Lewis of SNCC or Dr. King of SCLC were advocating. Baldwin was not asked to speak at the March on Washington, even though he was the most prominent black American writer of the time. This reflects the fact that Baldwin was never truly accepted by the integrationist wing of the Civil Rights movement. In addition, many northern liberals who supported SNCC and SCLC were shocked by many of the things that Baldwin said and they considered him to be a polemic propagandist.
- Baldwin was even more unaccepted by the militant wing of the movement, which drew its inspiration from Malcolm X. This wing was led by Bobby Seales and Huey Newton of the Black Panther Party, among others. Eldridge Cleaver, who was a spokesman for the Black Panther Party, was particularly outspoken in his attacks on Baldwin. In Cleaver's book, Souls on Ice, he attacked Baldwin for selling out to white society with his writing and selling out his black manhood by being an open homosexual. Baldwin would not support separation of the races because he believed this was a step backward rather than forward. His belief that we all could live together was ridiculed by Cleaver and others. He was considered a sell out because he still wanted to work it out with "whitey" and integrate rather than separate and work it out with his own people.
- Even though Baldwin was never really accepted by either wing of the Civil Rights movement, he did contribute a lot to it. Baldwin reinforced the views of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King that he personally believed in with his writing and his speeches.
- Baldwin argued, like Malcolm X, that the white society in America had to take a good long look at its own history. It must come to grips with the truth of slavery and the historical truth of the discrimination against blacks. He argued, like Malcolm, that white society was nothing to emulate, and that if the black race was to lift itself up, it would have to lift itself out of the dominant culture. The Civil Rights movement was not about integration of blacks into white society. It was about changing white society by forcing it to accept what it had done to blacks. Baldwin wrote:
- Please try to be clear . . . about the reality which lies behind the words acceptance and integration. There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that they must accept you. (Ticket 335)
James Baldwin and Malcolm X were not trying to break down the door of white society so they could be let in; they were breaking down the door so they could get out.
- Baldwin, like King, believed in hope and brotherhood. James Baldwin shared Dr. King's "dream" that "all God's children" would someday live together in peace and harmony. Baldwin focused on the message of Dr. King when he said, "We can't tell the children that there is no hope" (World). Baldwin was not perhaps as hopeful as Dr. King was on the prospect of real change, but he did believe that it could happen, and he never gave up that belief.
- Baldwin did not talk about the struggle for "black rights" or "civil rights" but rather he talked about "human rights." Baldwin truly did believe that we are all in this together and that we all must work with each other to make a world in which our children can live together. He wrote, "It is a terrible, an inexorable law that one cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own" (Fanscott 86).
- Baldwin reflected the hope and potential for change that Dr. King expressed, but he also reflected the anger and despair that Malcolm X articulated. Baldwin left the country because he wasn't sure that he could control his anger. He said, "I was afraid that if I was called 'nigger' one more time I would kill someone" (World). Baldwin acknowledged the rage that was in the black populous of America just as Malcolm X did. Baldwin, particularly later in his life, had less and less hope for the future of America. The assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King caused Baldwin to lose some of the hope that he had earlier had. Anger and despair were major themes in his later writings, though he never abandoned the themes of love and hope.
- Even though Baldwin became more bitter in the 1970s after the deaths on Malcolm X and Dr. King, he never backed down from his belief that we must radically change this country in such a way that all people can live in it. He fought a determined fight and was always willing to articulate his point of view. Baldwin, like Malcolm X and Dr. King before him, worked to improve the world every day that he was on it.
- Baldwin's message was directed as much (if not more) to the whites in America as it was directed to the blacks. By using all available media (television, radio, books, theater, etc.), Baldwin realized, like Dr. King, that he could influence whites who would not normally have heard what he had to say. Baldwin was attacked by people like Cleaver for seeking out and using the white media for his own personal glory. But one gets the impression that Baldwin was using the media in a similar fashion as Dr. King did, to get the message to as many people as possible.
- Baldwin also worked to eliminate the negative self-image blacks in America traditionally had of themselves. Baldwin, like Malcolm X, realized the dominant white society had stripped the black man of his own individuality. The American society blocked many avenues to the black man. Many blacks in America believed the negative traits that the dominant culture imposed on them. Baldwin realized the self-image that blacks had of themselves had to improve if they were ever going to progress in America. As Baldwin wrote to his nephew:
- You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. . . . Know whence you came. If you know whence you came, there is really no limit to where you can go. (Ticket 335)
- Another important thing that Baldwin did was he attempted to expand the black Civil Rights movement. Baldwin did not simply talk about the rights of blacks in America. He talked about expanding the universal bounds of human rights (World). He was trying to get the nation to understand that it must expand its limited view of the world to include all people of all races. Baldwin believed that the world view of western countries was becoming a thing of the past. America would have to change the way it viewed itself and other nations if it was to survive. Baldwin expanded the Civil Rights struggle into a struggle for freedom for all people everywhere. Baldwin believed that "whoever debases others is debasing himself" (Ticket 369). Baldwin's message was that the dominant American society must stop debasing all other cultures that it feels is inferior to it. If this happens, then the entire American culture will rise. To expand this to the world level would create a world that was free of oppressors and oppressed. This was not limited to black and white. This was an inclusive theory that eliminated the need to oppress women, homosexuals, the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, etc.
- This last point is probably Baldwin's greatest lasting contribution to the Civil Rights movement. Baldwin's contributions took time to be fully recognized. He was ahead of his time, and only now can the true scope of his vision be even imagined. It is difficult for people to imagine radical changes in world structure and society when they cannot even imagine the betterment of their own lot in life.
- Malcolm X is important because be allowed blacks to see beyond the horizons of the dominant white society. He gave them self confidence which they need to stand up for their rights against an oppressive society. Because of Malcolm X, blacks demanded that they be treated as human beings. Martin Luther King was important because he forced the dominant culture to look at itself. The words of Dr. King gave the Civil Rights movement the moral ground throughout the struggle. Dr. King focused the attention of the world on the plight of the blacks in America. This attention forced the government to act and end legal discrimination.
- People living through the Civil Rights movement tended to see Malcolm X and Martin Luther King as two opposite ends of the movement. James Baldwin tied these two ends together. He took the positive contributions of Malcolm X and Dr. King and united them. He expanded the ideas of both of them and created a world view which is particularly relevant today.
- The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s gave the blacks in America a sense of themselves and an end to legal discrimination. The human rights movement of the 1990s is more inclusive, uniting all oppressed groups against the oppressor. The goal of the current human rights movement is acceptance of all people as they are, not as how society wants them to be. This was the goal of James Baldwin.
- The words of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were a major part of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The words of James Baldwin will be a major part of the human rights movement of the 1990s
Works Cited Baldwin, James. Go Tell it on the Mountain. New York: Dell, 1952.
---. The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction 1948-1985. New York: St. Martin's, 1985.
Fanscott, Peter. "The Dilemma of a Native Son." Newsweek 14 Dec. 1987: 86.
Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Friedrich, Otto. "Bearing Witness to the Truth." Time 14 Dec. 1987: 80-81.
"James Baldwin Debates the Black Muslims." Audiotape. Center for Cassette Studies, 1969.
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket. Dir. Karen Thorsen. California Newsreel, 1990.
Solomon, Barbara Probst. "For James Baldwin." Dissent. Spring 1988: 219-222.
"The World I Never Made." Audiotape. National Press Club, 1986.
- Somewhere in the middle of these two ideological extremes was James Baldwin. Baldwin's personal views were a mixture of both the ideas and ideals of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
The Fire This Time: James Baldwin and the Civil Rights Movement
by Robert Pfeffer
and is funded through a St. Cloud State University
(St. Cloud, Minnesota) Cultural Diversity Committee allocation.
Contributors retain all rights to their work.
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Last update: 15 July 1998
URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/kaleidoscope/volume4/fire.html