A Talk to Teachers Analysis

(1) In order for me to live, I decided very early that some mistake had been made somewhere. (2) I was not a 

“nigger” even though you called me one. (3) But if I was a “nigger” in your eyes, there was something about you – there was something you needed.(4)  I had to realize when I was very young that I was none of those things I was told I was. (5)  I was not, for example, happy. (6) I never touched a watermelon for all kinds of reasons that had been invented by white people, and I knew enough about life by this time to understand that whatever you invent, whatever you project, is you! (7) So where we are no is that a whole country of people believe I’m a “nigger,” and I don’t , and the battle’s on!  (8) Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you’re not what you thought you were either! (9)  And that is the crisis.

A Talk to Teachers by James Baldwin

James Baldwin’s essay A Talk to Teachers is derived from a lecture that he spoke, resulting in a writing style that is more casual and less polished than Baldwin’s usual prose. The passage that I have chosen to analyze from Baldwin’s essay provides an excellent example of what his language is like throughout the entire piece.

In Baldwin’s first sentence, he parallels “some mistake” with “somewhere.” I think that he chose vague diction to emphasize that there were plenty of mistakes made everywhere when it came to discrimination against black people. He uses the informal “you” throughout the piece, which attributes to the casual tone, but also provides a universality to his argument, possibly inferring that all white people that have some form of prejudice are being spoken to.

Baldwin uses the derogatory term “nigger” throughout his essay, in quotations, which shows his hatred towards the word, making it seem like it is not really a word at all. The repetition of this term stirs a feeling of discomfort, which is probably what Baldwin was aiming to do when he spoke this piece. Baldwin writes what he discovered at an early age, a piece of wisdom that is seldom recognized: “But if I was a “nigger” in your eyes, there was something about you — there was something you needed” (3). He utilizes the em dash in between his two main clauses, packing a punch at the sentence that directly follows. This sentence implies an idea extremely relevant to modern society: if someone says something bad or untrue about you, then that reflects their character more than it does yours.

Baldwin utilizes repetition again, repeatedly using the term “I am” or “I was” as well as “none” or “no.” Constantly there is an idea repeated that what white society tells black people they are is incorrect. Baldwin references his own realization of this on a personal level. He says twice that he realizes this idea “very early” (1) and “very young” (4). I think that he repeats this aspect because he wants to show teachers that children form their own thoughts about important issues early on in life, where they are easily influenced by adults.

Baldwin uses an interruption within his next sentence, separating “I was not” from “happy” (5). This provides emphasis on both of these parts in the sentence, particularly “happy.” The reader can feel the pain of Baldwin, because black men were framed to look “happy” by white people when obviously they were not. The next sentence connects back to this idea, how Baldwin has never held a watermelon, which also connects back to another reference he has made about watermelon prior to this paragraph. Baldwin claims that he has learned “that whatever you invent, whatever you project, is you!” (6). He repeats the “you” to emphasize that a person’s image is compromised, ideally, of what they choose. Baldwin uses italics to emphasize certain words throughout the essay as well. This is a technique that provides a voice to the essay when it is read aloud.

Baldwin brings his essay home, speculating on where we are at now. (Now being the time that he had written this essay, but still very relevant to today’s world.) He parallels himself to the you, the white society, saying, “Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you are not what you thought you were either!” (8). He structures his sentences in a way that have rhythm and easily parallel the idea of the black man to the white man. He cleverly argues that if the black man is not all of the nasty things that white society frames them as, then that must mean that the white man is not as wonderful and great as he thinks he is. The incrimination of the black man and the supremacy of the white man is thus invented by the white man. He ends this paragraph with one of the shortest sentences within it, “And that is the crisis” (9). This adds another extra punch to Baldwin’s idea that the real problem is not the black society, but the white society and what the negative view they construe of black society.

Baldwin’s essay is personal but also addresses issues that he found important, especially during that time. Overall, he argues that children need to be taught correctly, because if the United States does not find a way to use the children’s enormous energy, then the country will be destroyed by that energy. Within this passage, Baldwin’s uses of parallelism, repetition, and common-place diction enforce this idea in a urgent and easily understood manner.