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1 Introduction
The position of African Americans in society dominated by whites can be looked at from different angles. The most valid information has to come from the African Americans themselves, because they experience the relation between whites and blacks every day. ... Even though he struggled for a long time with his image of an African American writer, he finally admitted that this is, in fact, what he was.
There are many aspects to be considered in order to decide whether African Americans can be integrated in society. Especially the way they are perceived by themselves and by whites is important because one can only belong if one feels worthy of belonging, and if the others want him to. This is closely connected to the African Americans image of the whites. Maybe they do not even want to belong to the white society. ... On the basis of these topics, it will be possible to decide how Baldwin sees the chances for the two races living in harmonious coexistence.
2 The self-assessment of African Americans
2.1 The African Americans feeling of inferiority and guilt
The image the African American has of himself is strongly influenced by the way he has been treated by whites for ages. The fact that the African Americans have not yet overcome the humiliations of slavery becomes evident in James Baldwins short story Come out the wilderness. ... They have "ambitions to better society and their own place in it" , but they do not seem to believe in their heart that they actually deserve it.
Especially in Come out the wilderness one can see that blacks have problems with their self-assessment because of their color. ... But on the other hand she points out that there is prove, "since Negroes [are] generally less hairy than whites which race, in fact, [has] moved furthest from the ape. ... It is striking that positive feelings about her own race develop only when she is around whites but never in the presence of her own people. This is very surprising because in the history it was the whites who emphasized their inferiority in the first place. It seems to be all right that blacks, when they are among their own people, show their own feeling of inferiority but as soon as they are around whites, they expect themselves and others to suppress this feeling and to show that they are worth as much as any white person. ...
This feeling of inferiority is understandable because how can one build up a positive self-assessment when he always experiences "the spittle in the face, all the tireless ingenuity which goes into the spite and fear of small, unutterably miserable people, whose greater terror is the singular identity, whose joy, whose safety is entirely dependent on the humiliation and anguish of others?"
One other symptom that shows their own feeling of inferiority is that to them it is almost unimaginable that any member of their race could be successful in this world that is dominated by whites. ... She cannot comprehend the concept of a successful African American. ... As long as blacks even consider themselves inferior, there is no reason why their work should be appreciated by whites. ... 2 The influence of childhood experiences on the self-assessment of African Americans
From Baldwins works as well as from his personal life, one learns that childhood experiences have much influence on the self-assessment of blacks.
In This morning, this evening, so soon the narrator talks about his feelings towards his father who had let himself be degraded by the whites: "I did not want my son ever to feel towards me as I had felt towards my own father. ... He has been able to use his anger and his disappointment positively to become a different person himself even though this has caused him problems with the whites. ... " This will probably not keep Paul from having bad experiences with whites in America and from suffering, but it might prevent him from being broken by it. ... 3 The African Americans problem with their identity
Many indications in these two short stories lead to the conclusion that blacks have no sense of their own identity. ... This has probably much to do with the whites in America forcing the blacks to show servility. ...
When the narrator from This morning, this evening, so soon arrives in New York, he notices that in the eyes of the whites there, he will never "get to be a man" . ... This concept of becoming a man is in Baldwins works often used as a metaphor for finding ones identity. Therefore here it shows that it is the whites who keep the blacks from finding their identity.
The narrator seems to feel that he belongs neither to the whites nor to the blacks. ...
But Europeans give African Americans the feeling that they belong. ... And even though he falls right back into his old pattern of trying to say what the whites expect him to say, something has changed. ...
The language used by the blacks is another prove that they cannot identify with their own race because they mostly use the language of the whites. ... He, like all the African Americans he reproaches, has adopted the language of the white people. ... Davis is actually the only African American in the two stories who seems to have stayed in touch with his origin and his race. ...
Louisas comment that some African Americans "are ashamed of Mahalia Jackson" , shows how much most other African Americans have turned away from their own race. ... "
3 The image whites have of African Americans
3.1 Americans image of African Americans
Concerning the attitude of Americans towards African Americans, there is still a distinction to be made between the North and the South. ... "
The nicest remark white Americans make about blacks in the two stories is that they are simply different. Also the unfriendliness of whites is still a minor maltreatment but it is constantly present. Ruth has "grown used to unfriendly people" , and also to the narrator of This morning, this evening, so soon, whites who are really friendly to him seem unimaginable, because he emphasizes already that the officers on the ship are not unfriendly. ...
Whites believe blacks to be inferior. ... The whites seem to enjoy watching the blacks depend on their mercy. ... With this, he emphasizes that the whites in America probably do not even see the blacks as human beings like themselves. ... But the fear of the Americans even finds its way to Europe with the consequence that the blacks dread their return home.
The only reason why there have been changes at all in the attitude towards blacks - even thought it is a very slow process, especially in the South - is that laws have been enacted to guarantee equal rights to African Americans. ... 2 Europeans image of African Americans
The attitude of Europeans toward blacks is more natural that that of the Americans. ... Europe even has an effect on the Americans on the ship. ... ] dancing with an enormous handsome black man, who seems to be her lover, who seems to have taught her how to dance" , gives an impression of the relation between blacks and whites in Europe. Blacks are not only accepted, but whites even admit that there are certain things, blacks are better at than whites, and they are willing to learn from them.
The Europeans let them see "that the world [is] bigger than the world [the Americans want them] to live in" . ...
4 The African Americans image of America and the whites in America
The African Americans have great resentments against America and its white inhabitants. ... "Les Fauves Nous Attendent" (The wild beasts are expecting us) refers to the Americans and "to the life he has fled and to the life which engulfs him." Considering all the physical and mental maltreatment of blacks, they have every reason to see the whites as anything but human, as "les fauves".
As far as the character of whites is concerned, blacks consider them corny , not very mature and they believe them to be "ignorant of life" , because they do not understand the world.
Approximate Word count = 6762
Approximate Pages = 27
(250 words per page double spaced)
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