East Los Angeles College

ENGLISH 101

Rebecca Guerrero
Dr. James
English 101
23 September 2017
The Social Problem of Racism in Baldwin’s “A Stranger in the Village”
Racism, according to Merriam-webster, is the “belief that race is the primary determinant
of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race”. In interpersonal relationships, Racism is seen more in communities who have a
dominant ethnicity. American history is rich in racism and has influenced the division of peoples,
causing strain within a nation. The segregated views create social “norms” allowing for racism
and arrogance to thrive. James Baldwin's experience reveals to readers that there are, in fact,
isolated towns and villages that have never set their eyes on a black man and therefore reject the
harshness of history just as others. Baldwin was the first African American they met, and he was
the first to see that he was the “exotic rarity” and experienced inner turmoil and rage due to their
seemingly innocent village and traditions, such as the buying and converting of African natives.
According to James Baldwin’s “A Stranger in the Village”, the social problem is those whose
“naïveté” cannot accept the terrible truths and achievements of the past will turn themselves
“into a monster” because they are ignorant and plead innocence and only if, and when, they
accept it will they know the true value history of Racism has in the world.
Baldwin argues that white man's “naïveté” is a social problem. Is it due to the geography
people plead innocent and unknowing to the decision “that these black men [are] not really men”
in other countries? The truth is that “the white man prefers to keep the black man at a certain
human remove… to preserve his simplicity and avoid being called to account for the crimes