Summary Published in 1962, James Baldwin's book, The Fire Next Time is a book that reflects the African American experience in civil rights era. . Today, more than fifty years after its original publication and amid many contemporary discussions regarding race and equality in the United States, many of the ideas Baldwin discussed seem relevant again. In the following article, I will argue that the central ideas and themes of Baldwin's book, The Fire Next Time, are indeed still relevant in the 21st century, not only because it addresses the great concerns of the human mind , but also because Baldwin was grappling with issues that still exist in modern American society. By examining recent studies, statistics, and news reports, I will show that the concerns of Black Americans from the 1960s are still very much present today, that Baldwin's work is not irrelevant or dead, and—perhaps more importantly - that it is useful to examine history. for comments on modern concerns. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To begin, I will discuss several core themes and ideas that Baldwin explores in The Fire Next Time. Generally speaking, the ideas in Baldwin's book generally comment on a combination of two topics: 1) an aspect of the universal human experience and 2) concerns as they apply specifically to Black Americans. In general, I found that he most often oriented his commentary towards the latter – which makes sense; he often speaks about black Americans and black Americans, as a black American. But that doesn't mean Baldwin shy away from addressing larger truths as they apply to society and humanity. For example, two broader concepts he touched on that stood out were how people think about and treat death and love in the context of hatred. In this way, Baldwin is not just commenting on limited contextual issues, but is actually attempting to provide an explanation of the psychology that leads American society to the specific challenges it faces as well as the reactions it has to these challenges. I mention the existence of these broader ideas now for several reasons. First, the existence of such a commentary was for me, as a reader and scholar, the first evidence that Baldwin's ideas did not disappear with time. When we can speak so effectively about universal concerns – about universal themes that run through all human experience (after all, we are all, ultimately, subject to both love and death) – it is for me a first sign that his words would stand the test of death. time. More important, however, and perhaps more relevant to rigorous academic inspection, were Baldwin's central ideas that addressed the topics of race and racism in America and their apparent causes. There are three central ideas on these topics that I will describe in this article, but note that there are, of course, other themes and ideas that Baldwin spoke about. Here are just the ones I found most compelling and relevant to 21st century American society. The first of these central ideas is that the narrow-minded thinking and prejudices propagated both knowingly and unknowingly by white people constitute the greatest obstacle to progress because they shape society. the minds of black Americans about themselves as well as white America's expectations totheir regard. Baldwin (1962) speaks eloquently on this saying: They [white men] must have believed for many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know. Thus, the negative image of black America, although "known" to be false, although it is legislated, is difficult to truly dispel, and without explicit attempts to destroy this negative image, no progress can be made. can be achieved. To examine whether this central idea is still relevant and important in the 21st century, it seems important to first ask whether such narrow thinking about Black America still exists. In other words, do people still believe that being Black means being “a worthless human being” who is “not expected to aspire to excellence”? Are such stereotypes about black Americans still alive today? The answer is unfortunately yes. According to an AP poll reported by USA Today, “…51% of Americans now express explicitly anti-black attitudes…”. However, what exactly “anti-black attitudes” means is unclear. However, if we look at data provided by researchers at the University of Illinois, we can get a better idea of ​​specific modern perceptions of Black America. According to 2012 survey data, more than 20 percent of white respondents perceived white people to be more intelligent than black people. Additionally, more than 30 percent of white people surveyed said they thought white people worked harder than black people. The study also showed that the majority of modern Black Americans perceive that inequality is rooted in Black individuals not trying hard enough, with just over 50% agreeing. with this statement. Based on these recent studies on American perception of blackness, it is safe to say that stereotypical thinking and negative biases against the abilities and efforts of black people still exist today. The next question is whether such ideas actually have a negative impact on black Americans. According to several studies on education and employer perception, the answer is once again yes. In a study done for the Journal of African American Men, researcher Herbert L. Foster (1995) found that among teachers and non-teachers, there are still many stereotypical ideas about black students. In another study done by John Hopkins, it was revealed that “…non-black teachers have significantly lower educational expectations of black students than black teachers.” If we look at graduation rates from the National Center for Education Statistics, we can see that such expectations are not entirely unfounded. “Nationally, black students graduated at a rate of 69 percent; Hispanics graduated at 73 percent; “whites graduated at a rate of 86 percent.” While it is difficult to explain the reason for these troubling statistics, they are indicative of an existing inequity both in how people perceive Black abilities and in the actual rates at which Black Americans are able to succeed in existing institutions. Not surprisingly, negative perceptions not only affect education, but also the job market. In a study by Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan (2003), they found that traditional "black" names were less likely to get a return on a resume than names perceived astraditionally “white”. In this way, we can see that not only does narrow-minded thinking and prejudice still exist in 21st century American society, but also that these ideas shape the perception of Black America and directly impact the ability of black Americans to succeed and achieve their status in the world. world. From here we can see that Baldwin's idea that the impact of stereotypes poses a major obstacle to progress remains a relevant and important concern for modern America. Next, I will examine another central idea raised by Baldwin, namely the relationship between power and power. and whiteness. Baldwin (1962) notably sees that the power of whiteness lies in the institutions we trust to deliver justice, namely the police and the criminal justice system. Baldwin implies that it is through these systems that racism and injustice can be largely implemented and, because these are systems we are supposed to trust, this makes their abuses against the black population all the more more immoral: In any case, the whites, who had robbed blacks of their freedom and who profited from this theft every hour of their lives, had no moral basis on which to rely. They had the judges, the juries, the hunting rifles, the law, in a word, the power. But it was a criminal power, which had to be feared but not respected, and which had to be thwarted in any way possible. In this way, Baldwin viewed the justice system of the time as having an inherent bias toward black people that ultimately did not bring justice to black Americans. The words “shotgun” necessarily conjure up images of violence and death, all at the hands of the government. In the quote above we see that at the time Baldwin viewed the American justice system as necessarily being in the hands of white America. Today, this is still largely true. Of the nine current Supreme Court justices (as of December 10, 2017), only one is African American, and of the 112 justices who have served throughout United States history, only two (1.78%) were African American: Thurgood Marshall (began serving in 1967) and Clarence Thomas (began serving in 1991). With the Black population making up approximately 13% of the total U.S. population in 2016, this means our nation's highest courts have not adequately represented Black Americans. What about other facets of the American justice system? When it comes to police officers, about 12% are black. Likewise, about 12 percent of state judges are black. This means that Black Americans are proportionally represented in both of these jobs. However, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2013, 37% of the U.S. male prison population was black; that same year, 22 percent of the U.S. female prison population was black. These two percentages show that although the percentage of black police officers and judges closely matches the overall percentage of black people in the general U.S. population, the percentage of black Americans incarcerated is wildly disproportionate to the percentage of black people in the general population. . American population. This is significant in itself, but is even more striking when put into perspective with the representation of white people in the same areas. About 77% of the general U.S. population is white, but only 32% of the male prison population and 49% of the female prison population are white. Additionally, about 78% of police officers are white and about 70% of judges are white. Thus, while white and black populations are proportionally represented in.