34 pages • 1 hour read
James BaldwinI Am Not Your Negro
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 5: “Selling the Negro”Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 5 Summary: “Selling the Negro”
Baldwin says that America’s infrastructure would not exist without the labor of enslaved Black people, yet White Americans are unwilling to accept that Black people built the country.
In a 1963 interview, singer and activist Harry Belafonte speaks about marching in Washington, and says the civil rights movement largely benefited White profiteers.
Baldwin says America encourages both simplicity and immaturity. He remembers finding out that Malcolm X was murdered.
On the Dick Cavett Show, Baldwin says there’s no way to argue with Black people who feel White people only intend to kill them after the end of slavery. He notes that White people are applauded for demanding liberty, while Black people are condemned for the same.
In 1967, Black power activist H. Rap Brown says violence is a necessary “part of American culture” (81).
An excerpt from The Land We Love, a 1960 government film, tells the viewer to appreciate America’s beauty.
At a rally, Martin Luther King, Jr. calls for America to stop bombing Vietnam.
Baldwin says America is incredibly prosperous and irresponsible, with great gaps between different communities. He observes that mass entertainment only serves to subdue the public.
On a talk show, a White mother says she doesn’t want her daughters to have Black partners because she thinks they’ll be looked down upon.
On the Dick Cavett Show, Philosophy professor Paul Weiss accuses Baldwin of overemphasizing racial divisions. Baldwin counters that he is talking about the issues facing Black men and states that leaving America to live abroad freed him from danger.
Baldwin remembers hearing King was shot. He was working on a film adaptation of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The actor Baldwin hoped would play Malcolm was staying with him that night. Baldwin recalls weeping in rage, and feeling that “tears seemed futile” (94).
Baldwin reflects American life has not made people happier or better. American violence is not an aberration—it is integral to the country’s function. He says America hosts “two levels of experience,” and that there’s no confrontation between the two (98). This makes White people monstrous, though it also gives Black people a certain advantage; they understand White people, not the other way around.
Part 5 Analysis
Baldwin explores, in this section, the ways in which Black people are exploited in America. He points out that America wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for slave labor. By pointing this out, Baldwin is emphasizing that the fact that Black people built America but are treated as if they need to be slowly granted rights by White people is nonsensical. Baldwin solidifies this point further by pointing out that White people are lauded for demanding freedom, but Black people are not. In this frame, the double standard is not just ironic, but violent.
Baldwin notes that some Black people believe that with the end of slave labor, White people just want to kill them; White people view Black people as a means of profit, as non-human. The theme of this section is foreshadowed in the previous section, in which a video excerpt tells White retailers to market toward Black consumers. In other words, White people value Black life only when and if it is profitable. This point is further underscored with the inclusion of the clip of the government film that advertises American tourism. The film suggests that the country, built through the labor of Black people, can be advertised as a kind of product, but its profits will always be claimed by White people.
This section also provides another example of Baldwin’s thoughts on witnessing. Baldwin says explicitly that America is divided into two sections, and that White Americans cannot see Black Americans the ways Black Americans can see Whites. According to Baldwin, this ability to see gives Black people an emotional, intellectual advantage over White people; they have the opportunity to understand America in a way White people don’t. In this way, Baldwin suggests that witnessing is imperative to the fight for antiracism.
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