Letter To My Nephew, By James Baldwin

As individuals, we are taught that we are the same and can become anything we want in life. However, people are not taught that they are born with some advantages and disadvantages that are due to their class. Class is the system and structure of organizing a society, in which people are divided into groups based on their social or economic status. Classes have been in society since early 19th century and was established by western Europe. (Britannica). Ever since then, people had not seen as individuals, but rather, as part of a class. The class system puts people into two main classes of society. Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and James Baldwin defined the different classes. As Marx and Engels stated, it is the “oppressor and oppressed”. In …show more content…
Mean of productions are the raw materials and means of labor employed in the production process. Oppressors attacked and were exploited the lower, working class and people of different ethnic groups. The oppressed were called the “proletarians.” They were just the average working class of people. The proletarians were oppressed and were stuck at the bottom part of society. In contrast, Baldwin believed that classes were formed by morals and races. In Letter to my Nephew, Baldwin told his nephew that he was part of this lower class of people. Both writings, Communist Manifesto and Letter to my Nephew, showed that individuals were forced to follow social norms that were oppressing other classes in society. However, Letter to my Nephew does a better demonstration of displaying the struggled of being oppressed and solution because it is written from the viewpoint of the class of people who are being oppressed, while the Communist Manifesto is written from the mindset of the …show more content…
He makes this a personal message to his nephew, so he will be prepared to see the reality of being oppressed. Marx and Engels did a better job of showing the bourgeoisie and the oppressors viewpoints on the proletariat. Marx and Engels tell their general audience about the mindset of the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie class wants to exploit the proletariat class. Marx and Engels feel like the best way to fight against is by attacking society through the political way will be the solution. Marx and Engels had a strong, multiple step solution that many people would agree with that is a need in society. However, many of those solutions have been placed into society today and the class of oppressor and oppressed still exist and seems like they want the proletarian class to become like the bourgeoisie. This is not the proper solution because oppressor have the advantages in resources in society. They want the proletariat class to change even though they are the reason for the class system. On the other hand, Baldwin’s solution is something new that society has not tried yet, which was for the oppressed class to show love to oppressor class. He wants to use the love for his nephew and reason why he wrote the letter to be shown to the oppressor class. He thinks that love will make the oppressors to realize their