When watching debates, I tend to keep an open mind and hear out both arguments before agreeing with one point of view. However in this debate, I was able to decide pretty early on which case was most compelling. I felt that within minutes of his speech, Baldwin was able to convey that the truth behind this topic is only visible to those who have experienced it, and those that allow themselves to be aware of it.
“Is the question hideously loaded, and then one’s response to that question – one’s reaction to that question – has to depend on effect and, in effect, where you find yourself in the world, what your sense of reality is, what your system of reality is. That is, it depends on assumptions which we hold so deeply so as to be scarcely aware of them.”
Whether one chooses to accept or deny the horrible mistreatment of African Americans in this country comes solely out of if that person has benefitted from this injustice or not. Wealthy white men and women who have been able to live out the “American Dream” are on the opposing side of Baldwin’s argument, due to the fact that in their realm of society, everything has worked out. To the rest of society, it is clear that there has been major flaws in our nation’s history and need to be called upon. To be untouched by these problems or to turn a blind eye to them is entirely in correlation with how that individual views the world, and specifically, his place in the world.
Baldwin is also able to effectively create a sense of responsibility in the room for those who are on the opposing side of his argument. To further prove that the “American Dream” that certain individuals have achieved is only possible through the expense of African Americans, Baldwin breaks down in specifics how this “dream” came to be a reality.
“*I* picked the cotton, *I* carried it to the market, and *I* built the railroads under someone else’s whip for nothing. For nothing. The Southern oligarchy, which has still today so very much power in Washington, and therefore some power in the world, was created by my labor and my sweat, and the violation of my women and the murder of my children. This, in the land of the free, and the home of the brave. And no one can challenge that statement. It is a matter of historical record.”
By speaking in first person, Baldwin takes something that seems so distant to these people and makes it personal. He creates a sense of emotion by explaining, in detail, the suffering of real people within the African American community. This visual makes it impossible for people in the room to hide from what has been done and to deny responsibility of it. He is able to convey that all things created that constitute the “American Dream” are only made possible through the anguish of people just like him.There is no real sense of equality in this nation if this process is the only way to live out the “American Dream.” It is so clear that this “dream” is impossible without the expense of African Americans and there is no way to argue around it—it is a part of history that must be accepted in order to create change.
E367: Writing and Diversity 