James Baldwin's 'White In America'

Words: 1324
Pages: 6
Open Document
Part 2: Medium Answers
1. James Baldwin writes, “To be white in America means not having to think about it.” What does this quote mean, and how does it help us understand what it mean to have privilege in American society? What is white privilege? What are three manifestations of this privilege? Why is white privilege less often “seen” or acknowledged? What can someone who has white privilege do about the privilege he/she has?
This is a famous quote and give me many thoughts about white privilege. This quote states that white people in America can avoid many troubles which non-whites will have, also white people in America can have privilege. White people in the America doesn’t need to be pay attention of the privilege they had for the reason …show more content…
“… the process whereby students are divided into categories so that they can be assigned in groups to various kind of classes.” (Oaks 2005) A very common example is school allowing students to take an honors class provided that they maintain an average of 90 or above. Standards for track placement are uniform in some schools; in others, each department determines the number of tracks and track placement. For example, in the high school where one of the coauthors taught prior to coming to Rockville Centre, any student was allowed to take AP English, but entrance to AP courses in foreign languages was determined by previous enrollment in the honors track and final averages in prior language courses. Tracking separated students into different groups. People who have better academic performances can get the tracking benefit most. Because they can have better communication with each other and get higher level knowledge for the reason that they already knew more knowledge and have better knowledge base than low achieving students. The students will learn more knowledge since they are surrounded by others like them. Also, teachers are better able to target individual needs which education process can be quick and more efficient. A student in a high-achieving group is seen as a high-achieving person, bright, smart, quick, and in the eyes of many, good. Students who are in the bad academic performances group or normal group have potentially harmful. According to Oaks. J. (1985) “Keeping Track: How schools structure inequality”, these groups which are low achieving, slow, average are not equally valued in the school. They are labeled quite openly and characterized in the minds of teachers and others as being a certain type students. Students who are in the low-achieving groups come to be called slow, below average, and often when people are being less careful—dummies,
Show More

Related Documents: James Baldwin's 'White In America'

Research Paper On James A. Baldwin

Jennifer Oast MWF 2:00-2:50 February 10, 2012 James A. Baldwin James A. Baldwin, a homosexual African-American novelist, was once quoted saying that the most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. What it means is that society’s chief concern should be a person who has absolutely nothing to lose by always sticking to their beliefs, yet everything to gain. James Baldwin embodies that quote to the absolute fullest. Not only did he push the…

Words 1908 - Pages 8

Self In W. E. Bigsby's The Divided Mind Of James Baldwin

While surveying James Baldwin’s career in “The Divided Mind of James Baldwin,” author C.W.E. Bigsby discusses Baldwin’s common use of the self in argumentation and problem solving despite “the peripheral role, which seems its social fate” (327). In fact, Baldwin favors “replac[ing] the authority of social and metaphysical dictat with an authority of the sensibility” meaning analysis of the self should be placed over that of social conventions and society-wide views. In “Race and Existential Commitment…

Words 1902 - Pages 8

Summary Of The Fire Next Time By James Baldwin

After reading the book The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, I have developed a new respect for African Americans who lived through the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement. This book is all about James Baldwin’s personal experiences and struggles in Harlem with segregation, racial injustice, the church, and solutions that were proposed in hope to gain equality for African Americans in America. This book exposed me to the American nightmare during the early nineteen hundreds through…

Words 699 - Pages 3

Police Injustice: The Black Arts Movement

rights, by participating in sit-ins, freedom rides and marches, battling the integration of schools, and voting rights (Black History Milestones). African Americans no longer waited for change, they demanded it. They stopped looking to prominently white prejudice institutions to solve their problems, and instead chose to make a change for themselves. The Black arts movement began with Amari Baraka, who sought to transform African American culture. This social activist and stylist proudly wore the…

Words 899 - Pages 4

Treatment Of African Americans In James Baldwin's Stranger In A Village

Village,” African American author James Baldwin suggests that disrespect and maltreatment of African Americans, by Caucasian people, is in their nature and not necessarily purposeful. Although people may see this as an excuse to blame societal norms for their actions, it should suggest that we need to be more careful with our behavior. When one shows disrespect, they are often met with hostility. History has shown mutual uncertainty between black people and white, this cycle continues to harm relations…

Words 1261 - Pages 6

James Baldwin's Between The World And Me

James Baldwin, a very inspirational man, had to live in a racist world all his life. He became a writer after many people told him that a black man could never do so. His book The Fire Next Time, stood out too many Americans because of the strong message it sent out. That if blacks and whites all came together a perfect nation would be able to happen. Baldwin’s arguments towards racism are very accurate. One point that he makes is that White America turns blacks to the dark side, another point he…

Words 1297 - Pages 6

The Fire Next Time Baldwin

In James Baldwin’s, “The Fire Next Time”, is called one of the greatest writings of the twentieth century because of the recollection of his experiences and his shocking opinions that comes out from reading this book. Baldwin writes his book in essays to not only get his point across and his experience, but talks about the so-called “Negro Problem” that was so noticeable on how blacks were treated and recognized as a dirty lower-class race. He discusses all of the social and racial injustice between…

Words 1095 - Pages 5

Ta-Nehisi Coates 'Letter To My Nephew'

Inspired by James Baldwin’s “Letter to My Nephew”, Coates chooses his own son as the recipient. It is within this letter that Coates cautions his son, and explains the dangers of the world they live in. The overarching message of the novel being, as African American’s, we are sought after, only to be destroyed. Although the story acts as a warning, it is also one that, in three major ways, gives hope and reassurance. The first major takeaway from Ta-Nehisi Coates’s novel is the realization of white America’s…

Words 385 - Pages 2

Slavery By Another Name Analysis

According to James Baldwin, African Americans have the advantage of never believing the myths to which white Americans adhere. African Americans have a more realistic view of the history of our Nation. They haven’t been subjects to unconscious and conscious bias that brainwashed their understanding of Americas history, like whites. Throughout this paper, I will explain what Baldwin means, and use examples from Slavery by Another Name by Douglas Blackmon and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander…

Words 486 - Pages 2

Analysis Of The Fire Next Time By James Baldwin

simply cannot be overstated, however unwilling white men may be to hear it." James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time. America’s dark past slavery, segregation and now mass incarceration are the things people had to face with who were not white. But lived in America land of the free and the home of the brave. James Baldwin who grew up in Harlem where you can see a lot of violence and everywhere else where white people tried to kill you. The racism of Baldwin's day is in no way compared to today. Racists…

Words 457 - Pages 2