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James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

Summary:

  In the first chapter the narrator - its an autobiographical text - describes 
        his childhood and the society in which he grew up. He tells  
        about his father’s death and what kind of man he was. His father
       was disappointed about the whites and he tried to teach his children    
       not  to have contact with them. He felt hate and bitterness against 
       the whites, that’s why he became paranoid. The family lived in poverty 
       and the children were not really happy with their situation. 
       Then the narrator tells an experience he had in his life when he was 
       a teenager. He walked through the streets with his white friend and 
       they wanted to eat something, but he was not served because he’s  a
       negro. He got angry and tried to attack the servant, but then he became
       reasonable and ran away. He could never forget this experience.

In Chapter Two James Baldwin explains why he has returned home. The reason for his great haste is, on the one hand, the possible soon death of his father, who fights an impossible fight against the death and, on the other hand his mother’s confinement. Like in his family, in Harlem there are tensions, but in this case they are racial tensions, because of the labor market which brought together hundreds of thousands of ill-prepared people and because of the Negro-soldiers who received their military training in the South. He describes the racial skirmishes in Harlem as very brutal and it is difficult for the police to diminish the fights of the gang wars. The situation for black people seems to be hopeless given that situation. In a corner he sees a group of strange people (for example race-men, sharpies and churchly women) but all with a common vision. So, black people and churchly women sent their children to the army. There they have friends and brothers and are respected. Also, the children will not take drugs and will have a job which is very good for their self confidence. So, their parents feel a kind of relief knowing that. On 28th of July Baldwin visits his father in hospital with his aunt, although he does not want to, because he does not want to look at him as a ruin. His aunt starts crying when they enter the room, seeing her brother lying there like a little black monkey. Nobody is able to speak and there is a depressing silence, only the whistling of his father’s throat. The next day Baldwin gets a message that his father is dead. On the same day his little sister is born.

On the day of his father’s funeral, James reflects on his childhood and thinks of his relationship with his dad. Since he has a lot of bad memories about his father he doesn’t know how to feel about his death. The fact that his birthday is on this very day, doesn’t make it easier for him to decide whether he should be happy or sad. At his fathers funeral he meets a lot of old friends of his dad and family members also his aunt which makes him very happy. Being in church again, remind him of his understanding and believing in God and of his past activities in church, which made his father very proud. At that time James is very touched about the interest his father had in his hobbies. Even though he enjoyed going to church as a boy later he became interested in writing. During this time, in Harlem big racism riots start. James explains that a black soldier was killed by a white policeman. The riots reach to their climax. Everywhere the windows of the houses and shops along the streets of Harlem are smashed, people are crying and cars are burning. All in all it was an atmosphere as in war. James Baldwin said that this riot was one of the most violence and biggest in the history of the U.S.A.

    Autobiographical background:

- was born in Harlem, New York, on August 2, 1924 - father died, he had a stepfather(David), who was a preacher - mother (Emma Berdis Jones) had many children (9) - as the eldest child, he often had to care for them, which he criticized - at the age of 14 he discovered his passion for writing and was often in libraries - he followed his stepfather and became a preacher - the church influenced Baldwin’s style of writing - with 18 he left home and hold a job for the “New Jersey Railroad” - after this he moved to Greenwich Village, where he met Richard Wright(“Native Son”), who made him popular - great novels: “Got tell it on the Mountains” (published in 1953)

                           “Notes of a native Son” (published in 1955)
                           “Giovanni’s Room” (published in 1956)

Historical Background:

- The first slaves came 1619 from Africa to the United States as workers for the agriculture which

     developed successfully

- Due to that fact the racism arose - Slavery was forbidden in 1865 - Although slavery was forbidden blacks were still discriminated up to the 20th century - Only some blacks like Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks had the courage to stand up against the discrimination - Martin Luther King Jr. had moved the masses of people who demonstrated and began to fight for their rights - Still today, Martin Luther King Jr. is an idol for most of the black people

The first slaves arrived in the United States in 1526, they were only a few and slavery had a slow start in the North. Later, in the modern times of the USA, in the South there had been nearly 4 million slaves. The rich white men, like bosses of industrial enterprises, benefited very much from slavery. To not lose this power against blacks, they needed hard rules and treatments, so the slaves had to work hard and long (e.g. agriculture). From 1500 to 1900, 12 million blacks from Africa were brought by ships to the USA, and because of the bad conditions at these ships, only 10 million blacks arrived in USA, so two million people died during the journey. Vermont was the first northern region to stop slavery in 1777. In 1808 the trans-Atlantic slave trade officially ended, but in the South of the USA, there was still slavery…

Population of the South 1790-1860

Year White Free Nonwhite Slave

1790 1,240,454 32,523 654,121 1800 1,691,892 61,575 851,532 1810 2,118,144 97,284 1,103,700 1820 2,867,454 130,487 1,509,904 1830 3,614,600 175,074 1,983,860 1840 4,601,873 207,214 2,481,390 1850 6,184,477 235,821 3,200,364 1860 8,036,700 253,082 3,950,511

So you can see that the proportion of slaves to the total population was nearly 33%. In contrast to the South, the proportion in the North never got much above 5 percent of the total population.

Message of the story regarding to the text:

James Baldwin wanted to focus people’s interest on the problems between blacks and whites. He wanted to show the terrible physical and mental consequences of racism.

It is difficult to transfer his situation to today, because with the passing of time black people got their rights back and are now integrated, accepted and respected in our society, just as all the other ethnic groups which are also now integrated into our multi-culture. Today there are no more insurgencies (but not in the dimensions, which are mentioned in Baldwin’s story), no public discriminations or executions and now there are political measures against racist behaviour and groupings.

What can still be applied today:

Black people often have not as good prospects of promotion as white people and also more problems with getting a well-paid job. But, this is different from country to country and from town to town. In some cities where mostly black people live, there is also sometimes discrimination against white people. Another fact is that mostly people from the underclass send their children to the army. The parents hope, that their children are respectfully and well-treated, and that they get a living standard which they couldn’t have if they lived at their parents home. They also want to give them the chance of a good education and development.

Racism in soccer:

On soccer pitches all over the European Union racism against black players came up. Many fan groups discriminate the opponent players with racial epithets, they are going so far, that many players do not want to play any longer and stop playing. That’s why many teams stand together before the match, to show their loyalty to their black team mates. The bizarre thing is, that the most fans don’t see, that they have black players in their team. In the Spanish, Italian and English League is more discrimination, than in Germany. But even though it is a theme here, in the country with a dark past. In the other leagues, many players show their loyalty in wearing white and black tapes. Also there is an action from the national soccer associations, which roll out a transparent before every game. Here is an example for discrimination and its consequences:

Player, in tears, tries to stop match

The strong measures came about after the Zoro incident created headlines around the world. In the 66th minute of his team's match against Inter Milan, he picked up the ball, planning to hand it to the fourth referee official as he walked off the pitch. Inter Milan stars Adriano, a Brazilian, and Nigerian forward Obafemi Martins, intervened. They pleaded with their fans to stop and convinced Zoro, who was in tears, to continue playing.

Omdal would like to see referees take more initiative in suspending or stopping matches marred by racist chants or taunts.

"Referees will be given the necessary power to abandon or cancel matches if necessary," he said. "We need referees and match officials to be tough on this issue. If they have been asleep then they need to wake up."

We think that the book wants to give the reader an impression how difficult the situation in that time between the black and white people was. Today this is not such a big problem as it was at that time, but racism is still present in the modern industrial world. Also James Baldwin’s story is still a part of the American History.