34 pages • 1 hour read
James BaldwinA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Baldwin repeatedly invokes the western genre, and Peck uses clips from the films that Baldwin references to underline his points. For Baldwin, westerns illustrate how history is misrepresented to support White supremacy. The traditional western makes White settlers into heroes and Native Americans into violent enemies, erasing the reality that White people committed genocide against Native Americans. This ashistorical representation provides a narrative justification for both settler colonialism and White supremacy.
Baldwin also uses the figure of Native Americans to illustrate the awakening of young Black Americans to the reality of racism. He points out that because American cinema is so dominated by White faces (John Wayne is a primary example) that both Black and White Americans grow up seeing White actors as heroes. It is a shocking and uncomfortable experience for young Black viewers to realize that their social position in America is more similar to that of the Native Americans than the White heroes. They, like Native Americans, are subjugated for the benefit of White supremacy.
By James Baldwin
Another Country
James Baldwin
A Talk to Teachers
James Baldwin
Blues for Mister Charlie
James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin
Going To Meet The Man
James Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain
James Baldwin
If Beale Street Could Talk
James Baldwin
If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?
James Baldwin
Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son
James Baldwin
No Name in the Street
James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son
James Baldwin
Sonny's Blues
James Baldwin
Stranger in the Village
James Baldwin
The Amen Corner
James Baldwin
The Fire Next Time
James Baldwin
The Rockpile
James Baldwin