"...but you were never really white in the first place. Nob… - James Baldwin

"...but you were never really white in the first place. Nobody is. Nobody has, even, ever wanted to be white, unless they are afraid of being black. But being black is nothing to be afraid of. I knew that before I met you, and I have learned it again, through you. Perhaps being white is not a conceivable condition, but a terrifying fantasy, a moral choice.”

James Baldwin

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About James Baldwin

James Arthur Baldwin (2 August 1924 – 1 December 1987) was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, and social critic.

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Birth Name: James Arthur Baldwin

Alternative Names: Jimmy Baldwin

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Salman Rushdie Ursula K. Le Guin Saul Bellow Ralph Ellison Iris Murdoch

Additional quotes by James Baldwin

And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become.

For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.

You have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you.

"...but you were never really white in the first place. Nobody is. Nobody has, even, ever wanted to be white, unless they are afraid of being black. … - James Baldwin

About James Baldwin

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Additional quotes by James Baldwin