James Baldwin Speech '86

James Baldwin was a guest of honor at The National Press Club in 1986. This clip includes an introduction, speech and question and answer session - which turned out to be the most dynamic part of the evening. Produced by C-SPAN.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• James
• Baldwin
• race
• relations
• America

[salahudeenabduladl]

By stating that we were viewed as noble savages James misinterprets, redefines, and even minimizes the atrocities and vicious cruelty that the white community has historically and currrently had toward blacks in America.

[Loumademe]

@salahudeenabduladl

Not quite. Baldwin's point, in part, is that this historically incorrect conception of the African-American, this STEREOTYPE,essentially, has sanctioned and continues to perpetuate this misunderstanding and (for some) justifies acts of inhumanity (certainly prejudice) against African-Americans (and "minorities" the world over). This view is limited, juvenile and stems largely from people who refuse to acknowledge their own history and that we all share this common history.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 8. These final responses to your rejoinder are amplifications of what I have already stated in my original comments. It is incumbent upon you to understand the gist and meaning of a comment before you attempt to respond to it.

[Loumademe]

@salahudeenabduladl

Likewise. More importantly, it is imperative that you grasp the entirety of Baldwin's statement, particularly his responses to questions that reflect the lack of simple comprehension as you have demonstrated.

[TheHealer31]

@twinqletwinqle

It always depends which side of the street you are on......A Mass Murderer to you, A Freedom Fighter to others........

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 7. Many white Americans are quite proud and vocal about having Native American ancestry. But the prospect of having black African ancestry is anathema to the vast majority of white people and a primary source of dread.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 6. Despite breaking virtually every treaty with the Native Americans, the US Govt has, for over 180 years, a Bureau of Indian Affairs that addresses specific issues relative to the needs of Native Americans. James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans and many other whites notables have long championed Native Americans as being something of a “special breed” and therefore worthy of being assimilated by the white community.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 5. “Separate But Equal” segregation laws were instituted against blacks. And the US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (who was the overseer of those segregation laws) stated that: “The black man has no rights that the white man is bound to respect.” White “afrophobia” toward blacks has a long dejure and defacto history. Moreover, the so-called 5 Civilized Tribes of Native Americans all had black slaves and fought on the side of the Confederacy.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 4. There were never miscegenation or segregation laws in America specifically prohibiting whites form marrying or officially discriminating against Native Americans. The primary focus of my previous comments regard the need for historical accuracy that there is a marked distinction between how blacks of African ancestry have been perceived and treated by the white community as opposed to how whites have treated all others—especially in America.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 3. Yes, the Native Americans have been perceived by whites as noble savages, not blacks. For example, the American Christian cult of Mormonism regards Native Americans with the honorific of being a lost tribe of Hebrews (of the Chosen Jewish People). Whereas blacks are perceived as being doomed by God to perpetual servitude to all other races. That is, according to the Hamitic Myth. The Mormon perception of blacks reflects pervasive afrophobia of whites.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 2. Perhaps you did not read all of my comments. You are inferring a great deal and being presumptuous. For emphasis I will reiterate my observation that the white community has not regarded blacks in the category of noble savage but as brutish subhumans not deserving of any due regard whatsoever. Native Americans have long been romanticized in America.

[salahudeenabduladl]

@Loumademe 1. This will be my last series of comments regarding James Baldwin's reference to the "noble savage." Your rejoinder is something of a straw man, convoluted, pedantic, off topic, rather nebulous, and perhaps a bit obtuse. The focus of my comment is not about the motivation and rationalizations that the white community and their system of racism white supremacy have employed to justify the atrocities meted out to blacks and Natives of the Americas.