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Transcribed the end of Baldwin's speech for those that don't have time to watch (but you should): If the American pretensions were based on more solid... a mor
by js2 6y ago
Transcribed the end of Baldwin's speech for those that don't have time to watch (but you should):
If the American pretensions were based on more solid... a more honest assessment of life and of themselves, it would not mean for Negros—when someone says "urban renewal"— that Negros are simply going to be thrown out into the streets which is what it does mean now. This is not an act of God; we are dealing with a society made and ruled by men.
If the American Negro had not been present in America, I am convinced that the history of the American labor movement would be much more edifying than it is.
It is a terrible thing for an entire people to surrender to the notion that 1/9th of its population is beneath them. And until that moment, until the moment comes, when we the Americans, we the American people, are able to accept the fact, that I have to accept for example, that my ancestors are both white and black. That on that continent we are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other. And that I am not a ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I am one of the people who built the country. Until this moment there is scarcely any hope for the American dream. Because the people who are denied participation in it, by their very presence, will wreck it. And if that happens it's a very grave moment for the West.