American Civil Rights Struggles:
Past & Present James Baldwin’s “Stranger in the Village” and Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” were both written in the mid-60’s during the civil rights movement. Both are similar in content, but they have clear differences. “Stranger in the Village” is an essay describing the author’s experiences and thoughts on racism throughout history and how it impacts the modern world. Baldwin’s tone can only be described as “contained rage”, because you can tell he is angry but he more or less keeps it under control in this essay. It explores the ideas of culture, being a newcomer, and how those effect each other. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter, on the other hand, includes the concepts of justice, equality, and freedom. It is more of a call to action than Baldwin’s piece, and King embraces …show more content…
Baldwin lived in New York until he turned 24, then moved to France in 1948 and visited the Swiss village mentioned in his essay in 1951. Thanks to his experience in both America and the small Swiss village he visited, he can write about them with familiarity, then add his knowledge of African history to create a well cultured essay. In it, he explores the idea of being a stranger in a place he never expected to be; the modern world. He then goes on to theorize the causes of this phenomenon and apply the concept to other places. More. In this paper, James Baldwin states, “The rage of the disesteemed is personally fruitless, but it is also absolutely inevitable...” (¶ 10). By this he means that in the event of oppression, victims will always have rage towards the oppressors and it will unavoidably manifest itself into action. At the same time, he is saying that this rage won’t get you anywhere if you’re alone; many voices must be heard before anything can be
Past & Present James Baldwin’s “Stranger in the Village” and Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” were both written in the mid-60’s during the civil rights movement. Both are similar in content, but they have clear differences. “Stranger in the Village” is an essay describing the author’s experiences and thoughts on racism throughout history and how it impacts the modern world. Baldwin’s tone can only be described as “contained rage”, because you can tell he is angry but he more or less keeps it under control in this essay. It explores the ideas of culture, being a newcomer, and how those effect each other. Martin Luther King Jr’s letter, on the other hand, includes the concepts of justice, equality, and freedom. It is more of a call to action than Baldwin’s piece, and King embraces …show more content…
Baldwin lived in New York until he turned 24, then moved to France in 1948 and visited the Swiss village mentioned in his essay in 1951. Thanks to his experience in both America and the small Swiss village he visited, he can write about them with familiarity, then add his knowledge of African history to create a well cultured essay. In it, he explores the idea of being a stranger in a place he never expected to be; the modern world. He then goes on to theorize the causes of this phenomenon and apply the concept to other places. More. In this paper, James Baldwin states, “The rage of the disesteemed is personally fruitless, but it is also absolutely inevitable...” (¶ 10). By this he means that in the event of oppression, victims will always have rage towards the oppressors and it will unavoidably manifest itself into action. At the same time, he is saying that this rage won’t get you anywhere if you’re alone; many voices must be heard before anything can be