African-Americans in Post-War America

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the writings of famous African-American authors such as James Baldwin, W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, and discusses their experiences and understanding of what it meant to be a Black-American in post-war America. The paper focuses primarily on the work of James Baldwin and his description of the destruction of his race and the injustice and the force to which African-Americans were subjected.

From the Paper:

"Baldwin's experience was that of a black man trying to find meaning and success and identity in apartheid America. Being black--or Negro, in the vernacular of the time--was a crucial fact of life. Baldwin observes the creation and the effects of "the projects," slums, and ghettoes on both the city-dwellers who live there and those who create them in the first place. James Baldwin's "Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem" is about one of these 'projects' that has captivated the blacks within the lanes of Harlem. Baldwin desperately and passionately hated the streets of Harlem not for what they were but rather, what they stood for. According to Baldwin the neighborhoods were distinctive in place and culture. They differed from America in all terms and manners. The law, schools, professional associations, and judicial institutions in these neighborhoods, were 'protected by law enforcement not of this territory. Baldwin's "occupation thesis," of course, challenges the American Dream and suggests an endemic basis for social unrest. But, the implication to be developed here is for how we understand law. Jurisprudence rather than policy, ethics, or political theory, is the issue and the challenge is just as compelling."

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