“Fifth Avenue, Uptown,” an essay written by James Baldwin and published in Esquire magazine in 1960, explains what life is like as a black person living in Harlem. His main idea is the struggles that many blacks face as a result of decades of oppression. Baldwin begins his essay by relating what his neighborhood used to look like compared to what it looks like today. One side of the street has been built up since the authors’ childhood, and the other side looks the same. Baldwin explains that he isn’t trying to say all whites are privileged but some are living though difficult conditions also. He clarifies how blacks are misunderstood because some wonder why blacks act a certain way, but he says nothing can be done about the way they act until
