Tag Archives: James Baldwin

Baldwin Explains White Supremacists

By Robin Bates | Published: August 14, 2017

To understand white supremacy, check out James Baldwin’s short story “Going To Meet the Man.” It helps explain the hatred and violence we saw in Charlottesville this past weekend.

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Wishing Hillary Godspeed

By Robin Bates | Published: July 28, 2016

What are we to make of these charismatic men like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama supporting Hillary? I offer up Thomas Hardy and James Baldwin references to advance different interpretations.

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The Inner City: Stay or Leave?

By Robin Bates | Published: July 9, 2015

How do we get young people to stay in the inner city and make it a better place? Baldwin’s “Sonny Blues” gives us a sense of what is possible.

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An Inspiring Speech Draws Upon Poetry

By Robin Bates | Published: March 10, 2015

Obama drew powerfully from James Baldwin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Langston Hughes, and Walt Whitman in his Selma speech.

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Bigger Thomas, Clarence’s Shadow

By Robin Bates | Published: March 2, 2015

“Native Son,” 75 years old, is Justice Clarence Thomas’ favorite novel. I theorize that Bigger Thomas is the justice’s destructive shadow.

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What Frightens the Ferguson Police

By Robin Bates | Published: August 18, 2014

A James Baldwin short story helps explain some of the fears that led to police overreaction in Ferguson, Missouri.

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Lit’s Ten Most Sensitive Guys

By Robin Bates | Published: September 16, 2013

To match my 10 strongest literary women characters, here are my 10 most sensitive male characters.

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Harper Lee’s White Liberal Fantasy

By Robin Bates | Published: May 3, 2013

Important though it was, “To Kill a Mockingbird” was also a white liberal fantasy.

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Brothers Bonding over a Father’s Illness

By Robin Bates | Published: April 15, 2013

Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” about two brothers learning to bond, captures some of the bonding I am doing with my second brother over our father’s illness.

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