Such an excellent interview! — Molly
In 1963, James Baldwin spoke about federally-backed urban renewal programs, describing the efforts as "negro removal" programs. "That is what it means," said Baldwin. "And the federal government is an accomplice to this fact." That same year, four little girls — Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair — were brutally murdered in Birmingham, Alabama, in a violent white supremacist terrorist attack, now known as the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Princeton professor Eddie Glaude says that there are still many lessons to learn from James Baldwin's words from that time. "He insisted that we tell the truth about who we are and what we have done," says Glaude, "that we put aside the myths and illusions and understand what white supremacy has done in terms of disfiguring and distorting the character of this nation."
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Amid a nationwide reckoning with systemic racism, we speak with Princeton African American studies professor Eddie Glaude, whose new book on James Baldwin offers lessons from the iconic writer for the present. Baldwin, says Glaude, insisted that “we put aside the myths and illusions and understand what white supremacy has done in terms of disfiguring and distorting the character of this nation.” The book is titled “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own.”
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, The Quarantine Report. We’re speaking with professor Eddie Glaude, chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University, his new book, just out, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. This is James Baldwin speaking in 1963 about federally backed urban renewal programs.
JAMES BALDWIN: A boy last week — he was 16 — in San Francisco, told me, on television — thank God we got him to talk. Maybe somebody will start to listen. He said, “I’ve got no country, I’ve got no flag.” And he’s only 16 years old. And I couldn’t say, “You do.” I don’t have any evidence to prove that he does. They were tearing down his house, because San Francisco is engaging, as most Northern cities now are engaged, in something called urban renewal, which means moving the Negroes out. It means Negro removal. That is what it means. And the federal government is an accomplice to this fact. Now, this — we’re talking about human beings. There’s not such a thing as a monolithic wall or, you know, some abstraction called the Negro problem. These are Negro boys and girls, who, at 16 and 17, don’t believe the country means anything that it says, and don’t feel they have any place here, on the basis of the performance of the entire country.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s James Baldwin in 1963. 1963 was also the year, as I said, of the Birmingham church bombing, four little girls killed, James Baldwin giving fiery addresses about what this meant. He would eventually leave the United States. Professor Eddie Glaude, he has been the backdrop of your life. Talk about what he represented then and what it means for today.
EDDIE GLAUDE: Well, you know, I’ve been thinking and thinking about James Baldwin for about 30 years. He’s been in my spirit, in my head, the foundation of my scholarly career, in some ways. And what I wanted to do was to think about him as this poet who spoke the truth to our times.
And, you know, Amy, he had to come to terms with the fact that the country turned its back on the Black freedom struggle. He had to come to terms with the fact that the nation, in effect, assassinated Dr. King. And he collapsed after 1968, and he had to pick up the pieces.
So what I wanted to do was to walk with James Baldwin as he, in some ways, grappled with his moment of betrayal, and find the resources for us in our moment, as we’re grappling with our own moment of betrayal. And what I’ve learned is that he spoke truth. He spoke truth. He insisted that the nation confront the lie, the illusions that protect its so-called innocence. And that became the basis of writing this book in this moment in which Trumpism overdetermines so much of our lives.
Please go here for the original interview: https://www.democracynow.org/2020/7/27/eddie_glaude_james_baldwin_begin_again
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