Mark explained the choice of the book came after reading "The Case for Reparations" and seeing Ta-Nehisi Coates speaking at the American Library in Paris. The Fire Next Time is a favorite of Mr. Coates and that led Mark to read Mr. Baldwin’s book.
The book itself was well regarded by the group. Some had never previously heard of James Baldwin and were glad to make his acquaintance, all enjoyed his writing style and it was noted that although the writing was steeped in the events of the ‘60s during which it was written, it could have easily been written during the current year. In credit to the book group, the topics discussed in the book and article are rarely discussed in the United States, one need only look to the failure of bill H.R. 40 which has been introduced every session of the US Congress since 1989 but has never been passed into law.
We discussed that it seems people cannot ignore the racial / color aspects of slavery, and this prevents society from focusing on the human aspects of the situation. It is a situation that is certainly not unique to the Unites States but the United States was a significant economic beneficiary of the institution of slavery, not only from the standpoint of having virtually free labor but also from the businesses / jobs that were created due to slavery, such as a lending industry to help one to purchase slaves, interest paid on those loans, insurance policies sold and sales taxes paid. And a lot of that cotton went to Great Britain to keep the textile mills there quite busy. It came out in our discussion that Great Britain paid reparations to slave owners after slavery was abolished. Also discussed was the fact the the United States armed forces were segregated even after World War II with white officers often in command of black troops but never the reverse. Most of us had stories of neighborhoods that were segregated by race or nationality (Black, Indian, Chinese, Jewish) and some often because of a desire to live amongst a familiar way of living, but it seemed that only in the case of African-Americans was there the force of governmental policy to encourage segregation and exploitation. In the ancillary history portion of the discussion it was mentioned that while slavery was not legal in Mexico while Texas was a part of that country, the constitution of the new Republic of Texas made slavery legal and forbade slave owners to free their slaves without the approval of Congress.
Some of our favorite quotes from The Fire Next Time:
“It is so simple a fact and one that is so hard, apparently, to grasp: Whoever debases others is debasing himself. That is not a mystical statement but a realistic one, which is proved by the eyes of any Alabama sheriff - and I would not like to see Negroes ever arrive at so wretched a condition”.
“There are too many things we do not wish to know about ourselves. People are not terribly anxious to be equal (equal, after all, to what and to whom?) but they love the idea of being superior.”
“It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be.”
“What it comes to is that if we, who can scarcely be considered a white nation, persist in thinking of ourselves as one, we condemn ourselves, with the truly white nations, to sterility and decay, whereas if we could accept ourselves as we are, we might bring new life to the Western achievements, and transform them."
Administrative matters:
Coffee Parisien was once again a comfortable place to hold a meeting. We were fortunate that the room was not crowded and so noise from other customers was not an issue. . The only problem noted was the wine refrigeration. Our bottles of Chinon were a “bit” cooler than room temperature on arrival but we managed to polish it all off.
US president-elect Donald Trump’s photo was indeed included in the collection of American presidents’ photos on the placemats (even though the Electoral College has yet to meet). Tracey was able to find some placemats where the photo for the 45th president was left blank on the opposite side and there is suspicion that perhaps the placemats with Hillary Clinton’s photo are already for sale on eBay alongside “Dewey defeats Truman” headlines.
For those interested in an exhibit on race in America, we refer you to The Color Line at the Musée du quai Branly.
Mark
