The book “The Fire Next Time,” by James Baldwin, was a novel that gave me a great insight into the chaos that was going on in America during the 1960’s. The way Baldwin describes the aggravation felt by all African Americans during this time period made me feel like I was personally experiencing it with them. From the financial and social hardships they faced, it was never an easy life for people of color. If it was not for the many lives risked and lost for their equality, America would not be where we are today.
I think it is still important for American education systems to teach books with racial disparity like this because there is still social and racial injustice today. Although it is not to the severity and extent that it was back then, if people …show more content…
This became one of his most famous books along with, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” both reaching the bestseller list, making him a historical icon from the civil rights movement (PenguinRandomHouse.com, 2016). Millions of copies were sold of “The Fire Next Time” because of the way it “offered white readers a view of themselves through the eyes of the African-American community” ("James Baldwin,” 2014). One of my favorite quotes from the novel is, “If we- and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others- do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world” (Baldwin, 1993). This quote really describes the message Baldwin was trying to get across throughout the book, that it cannot just be blacks trying to make a change. If even some whites take a stand, it will have a powerful effect across America; therefore, I firmly believe we should follow these guided words still
I think it is still important for American education systems to teach books with racial disparity like this because there is still social and racial injustice today. Although it is not to the severity and extent that it was back then, if people …show more content…
This became one of his most famous books along with, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” both reaching the bestseller list, making him a historical icon from the civil rights movement (PenguinRandomHouse.com, 2016). Millions of copies were sold of “The Fire Next Time” because of the way it “offered white readers a view of themselves through the eyes of the African-American community” ("James Baldwin,” 2014). One of my favorite quotes from the novel is, “If we- and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others- do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world” (Baldwin, 1993). This quote really describes the message Baldwin was trying to get across throughout the book, that it cannot just be blacks trying to make a change. If even some whites take a stand, it will have a powerful effect across America; therefore, I firmly believe we should follow these guided words still