James Baldwin on White Fragility

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,641
27,980
113
Still no one addressing Baldwin's words.

"IF I'M NOT THE NIGGER HERE
AND YOU INVENTED HIM,
YOU THE WHITE PEOPLE
INVENTED HIM,
THEN YOU'VE GOT TO FIND OUT WHY.
AND THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON THAT,
WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ABLE
TO ASK THAT QUESTION."
What does this sh!t even mean?

Does this guy not realize that not all ”white” people are the same?

I certainly didn’t invent niggers.
 
Last edited:
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enframed

Tom Curren status
Apr 11, 2006
11,644
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Del Boca Vista, Phase III
Here's more excerpt, for more context:

"I CAN'T BE A PESSIMIST,
BECAUSE I'M ALIVE.
TO BE A PESSIMIST MEANS
YOU HAVE AGREED THAT HUMAN LIFE
IS AN ACADEMIC MATTER,
SO I'M FORCED TO BE AN OPTIMIST.
I AM FORCED TO BELIEVE
THAT WE CAN SURVIVE
WHATEVER WE MUST SURVIVE.
BUT... ..THE NEGRO IN THIS COUNTRY... ..THE FUTURE OF THE NEGRO
IN THIS COUNTRY... ..IS PRECISELY AS BRIGHT
OR AS DARK AS THE FUTURE
OF THE COUNTRY.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
AND OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE GOING
TO FACE AND DEAL WITH
AND EMBRACE THE STRANGER
THEY HAVE MALIGNED SO LONG.
WHAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO
IS TRY TO FIND OUT,
IN THEIR OWN HEARTS,
WHY IT WAS NECESSARY
TO HAVE A "NIGGER."
IN THE FIRST PLACE,
BECAUSE I'M NOT A NIGGER,
I'M A MAN.
BUT IF YOU THINK I'M A NIGGER,
IT MEANS YOU NEED HIM.
THE QUESTION YOU'VE GOT TO
ASK YOURSELF,
THE WHITE POPULATION OF THIS
COUNTRY HAS GOT TO ASK ITSELF,
NORTH AND SOUTH,
BECAUSE IT'S ONE COUNTRY,
AND FOR THE NEGRO,
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH...
IT'S JUST A DIFFERENCE
IN THE WAY THEY CASTRATE YOU,
BUT THE FACT OF THE CASTRATION
IS AMERICAN FACT.
IF I'M NOT THE NIGGER HERE
AND YOU INVENTED HIM,
YOU THE WHITE PEOPLE
INVENTED HIM,
THEN YOU'VE GOT TO FIND OUT WHY.
AND THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON THAT,
WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ABLE
TO ASK THAT QUESTION."


It was all taken from an interview in '68 or '79 maybe, as transcribed in the film I Am Not Your Negro.

Is that helpful?
 

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,641
27,980
113
Here's more excerpt, for more context:

"I CAN'T BE A PESSIMIST,
BECAUSE I'M ALIVE.
TO BE A PESSIMIST MEANS
YOU HAVE AGREED THAT HUMAN LIFE
IS AN ACADEMIC MATTER,
SO I'M FORCED TO BE AN OPTIMIST.
I AM FORCED TO BELIEVE
THAT WE CAN SURVIVE
WHATEVER WE MUST SURVIVE.
BUT... ..THE NEGRO IN THIS COUNTRY... ..THE FUTURE OF THE NEGRO
IN THIS COUNTRY... ..IS PRECISELY AS BRIGHT
OR AS DARK AS THE FUTURE
OF THE COUNTRY.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
AND OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE GOING
TO FACE AND DEAL WITH
AND EMBRACE THE STRANGER
THEY HAVE MALIGNED SO LONG.
WHAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO
IS TRY TO FIND OUT,
IN THEIR OWN HEARTS,
WHY IT WAS NECESSARY
TO HAVE A "NIGGER."
IN THE FIRST PLACE,
BECAUSE I'M NOT A NIGGER,
I'M A MAN.
BUT IF YOU THINK I'M A NIGGER,
IT MEANS YOU NEED HIM.
THE QUESTION YOU'VE GOT TO
ASK YOURSELF,
THE WHITE POPULATION OF THIS
COUNTRY HAS GOT TO ASK ITSELF,
NORTH AND SOUTH,
BECAUSE IT'S ONE COUNTRY,
AND FOR THE NEGRO,
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH...
IT'S JUST A DIFFERENCE
IN THE WAY THEY CASTRATE YOU,
BUT THE FACT OF THE CASTRATION
IS AMERICAN FACT.
IF I'M NOT THE NIGGER HERE
AND YOU INVENTED HIM,
YOU THE WHITE PEOPLE
INVENTED HIM,
THEN YOU'VE GOT TO FIND OUT WHY.
AND THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON THAT,
WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ABLE
TO ASK THAT QUESTION."


It was all taken from an interview in '68 or '79 maybe, as transcribed in the film I Am Not Your Negro.

Is that helpful?
Well I wasn’t around in ‘68 but I’m pretty safe in assuming those words were actually somewhat relevant back then.

In the context of 2021 America it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
 
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Ifallalot

Duke status
Dec 17, 2008
88,305
17,591
113
Here's more excerpt, for more context:

"I CAN'T BE A PESSIMIST,
BECAUSE I'M ALIVE.
TO BE A PESSIMIST MEANS
YOU HAVE AGREED THAT HUMAN LIFE
IS AN ACADEMIC MATTER,
SO I'M FORCED TO BE AN OPTIMIST.
I AM FORCED TO BELIEVE
THAT WE CAN SURVIVE
WHATEVER WE MUST SURVIVE.
BUT... ..THE NEGRO IN THIS COUNTRY... ..THE FUTURE OF THE NEGRO
IN THIS COUNTRY... ..IS PRECISELY AS BRIGHT
OR AS DARK AS THE FUTURE
OF THE COUNTRY.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
AND OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE GOING
TO FACE AND DEAL WITH
AND EMBRACE THE STRANGER
THEY HAVE MALIGNED SO LONG.
WHAT WHITE PEOPLE HAVE TO DO
IS TRY TO FIND OUT,
IN THEIR OWN HEARTS,
WHY IT WAS NECESSARY
TO HAVE A "NIGGER."
IN THE FIRST PLACE,
BECAUSE I'M NOT A NIGGER,
I'M A MAN.
BUT IF YOU THINK I'M A NIGGER,
IT MEANS YOU NEED HIM.
THE QUESTION YOU'VE GOT TO
ASK YOURSELF,
THE WHITE POPULATION OF THIS
COUNTRY HAS GOT TO ASK ITSELF,
NORTH AND SOUTH,
BECAUSE IT'S ONE COUNTRY,
AND FOR THE NEGRO,
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH...
IT'S JUST A DIFFERENCE
IN THE WAY THEY CASTRATE YOU,
BUT THE FACT OF THE CASTRATION
IS AMERICAN FACT.
IF I'M NOT THE NIGGER HERE
AND YOU INVENTED HIM,
YOU THE WHITE PEOPLE
INVENTED HIM,
THEN YOU'VE GOT TO FIND OUT WHY.
AND THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON THAT,
WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ABLE
TO ASK THAT QUESTION."


It was all taken from an interview in '68 or '79 maybe, as transcribed in the film I Am Not Your Negro.

Is that helpful?
That's some serious racist sh!t right there
 

taking one in

Nep status
Jun 16, 2008
610
99
28
“It's up to you. As long as you think you're white, there is no hope for you. As long as you think you're white, I'm going to be forced to think I'm black.” -- James Baldwin

“It is not a romantic matter. It is the unalterable truth: all men are brothers. That's the bottom line. If you can't take it from there, you can't take it at all.” -- also James Baldwin

Sorry, Baldwin fan...I'll never post here again. Carry on with your entertaining absurdities.
 

rowjimmytour

Tom Curren status
Feb 7, 2009
11,534
5,832
113
54
Math
sandwiches
being on time
objectivity
getting the right answer
being polite
winter Olympics
Oompa Loompa Follower
Drinker of orange bleach flavored kool-aid
Flat Earther
All of that and more has been deemed racist. Not by me.
RACIST!
Fixed :shaka:
 

Ifallalot

Duke status
Dec 17, 2008
88,305
17,591
113
Still no one addressing Baldwin's words.

"IF I'M NOT THE NIGGER HERE
AND YOU INVENTED HIM,
YOU THE WHITE PEOPLE
INVENTED HIM,
THEN YOU'VE GOT TO FIND OUT WHY.
AND THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY
DEPENDS ON THAT,
WHETHER OR NOT IT'S ABLE
TO ASK THAT QUESTION."
That's racism

I have more in common than a fellow American of any demographic than I do with the people in the distant past who invented "the nigger"
 

hammies

Duke status
Apr 8, 2006
15,587
14,215
113
I never read any of those. Relevance?

You are ascribing something that some clickbait intern wrote for Huffpo to me?

Why always look for the most ridiculous examples, if not to trivialize racism?
I ascribed nothing to you.

Duffy (I can't believe I'm defending that guy) posted a link to some lame race-baiting article. You responded with "You are looking for fringes, hyperbolizing and mischaracterizing..." I posted a list of several large news/opinion websites that frequently publish articles of the very type Duffy posted, in order to note that that kind of crap is not just on the fringes.
 
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plasticbertrand

Duke status
Jan 12, 2009
21,218
14,037
113
I ascribed nothing to you.

Duffy (I can't believe I'm defending that guy) posted a link to some lame race-baiting article. You responded with "You are looking for fringes, hyperbolizing and mischaracterizing..." I posted a list of several large news/opinion websites that frequently publish articles of the very type Duffy posted, in order to note that that kind of crap is not just on the fringes.
I get that but these are all opinions, fringe elements with extreme views.

Lefty clickbait = Righty clickbait

It would be like me quoiting Alex Jones and going, SEE? YOUR WRONG.
 

Oakleys_N_Zinka

Miki Dora status
Oct 7, 2005
4,809
1,247
113
I get that but these are all opinions, fringe elements with extreme views.

Lefty clickbait = Righty clickbait

It would be like me quoiting Alex Jones and going, SEE? YOUR WRONG.
Some of this stuff is used as curriculum and in work trainings, and has made its way into institutions like the Smithsonian. A lot less fringe than Tiki boys.

NINTCHDBPICT000596076146.jpg

NINTCHDBPICT000596076148.jpg
 

ghost_of_lewis_samuels

Phil Edwards status
Oct 27, 2019
6,192
4,062
113
i for one, am not responsible for anything that i dont claim responsibility for or happened to overlook and benefits me without me knowing it.