The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

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The Fire Next Time

In this essay (published first in the New Yorker in 1962 and titled in full "Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind"), Baldwin examines the ways in which Christianity and the Nation of...

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The Fire Next Time

In a particularly searing passage in The Fire Next Time Baldwin accuses his country and his fellow countrymen of the crime of having destroyed, and continuing to destroy, hundreds of thousands of...

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The Fire Next Time

Having spent much of my education studying African American history, this quote strikes me as quite straightforward. Baldwin is pointing out something that is obvious to minority Americans:...

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The Fire Next Time

Christianity is a major theme in James Baldwin’s essay “Down At The Cross.” It is the second essay of his book, The Fire Next Time. It explains how he was raised poor in Harlem, New York City and...

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The Fire Next Time

Baldwin is addressing the way in which race has created a hierarchy whose strictures are obeyed by both whites and blacks.  Black people "look up" at those within the race who are of a higher...

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The Fire Next Time

In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin proposes that ending America's racial divide will require an honest confrontation with the country's history of racism, a commitment to social justice, and the...

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The Fire Next Time

The issues raised in "My Dungeon Shook" are still important today. Many of the more overt forms of racial discrimination have been eliminated, but many more subtle and covert forms still remain....

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The Fire Next Time

In The Fire Next Time, Baldwin expresses doubts about the Nation of Islam's separatist ideology, criticizing its potential to foster hatred similar to the racism it opposes. He observes the group's...

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The Fire Next Time

In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin is referring to the history of white supremacy, which was used to justify slavery and segregation. The fact that the founding values of America are clearly at...

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