Re-educating America: A Reflection on James Baldwin's Talk to Teachers

As I read Baldwin’s 1963 essay to teachers, I found myself internally ‘snapping’ to agree with his points. I’ve learned what he explains in other contexts, but his straightforwardness was satisfying to read. He writes with such conviction and explains things with such clarity that he makes the idea that anyone could disagree with his statements seem preposterous.

Baldwin reminds us that the systems, economic, educational, etc., currently in place in American society were built to maintain a status quo that keeps Black communities at the bottom of the nation’s metaphorical ladder. Therefore, it is our responsibility as teachers to use the limited time we have with our students to teach them the truth about this country, its history, and its systems of perpetuating oppression.



In particular, I loved that Baldwin named how important it is for white children to learn these truths, because living with a delusional sense of superiority damages the holder of those lies as much as it damages those who are treated as inferior.

He says that “... a great price is demanded to liberate all those silent people so that they can breathe for the first time and tell you what they think of you. And a price is demanded to liberate all those white children… who will never grow up because they have no sense of their identity” (683). In those two sentences, he simply and quite effectively explains the root, consequences, and solution to historic and contemporary race conflicts in America.

The root -- oppressed people needing to maintain (in order to survive) a suffocating silence and inaction and white people resolutely blinding themselves to the truth of their histories.
The consequence -- black people do not “breathe,” they cannot fight for change because they do not confront the oppressors; white people perpetuate the violence of their histories in their own lives because they do not learn the truth.
The solution -- great prices are demanded, and need to be paid for us to move forward.
   
That last piece I find intriguing, that someone (or, I’m sure, many someones) needs to pay the that great price that is demanded in order for the silent people to break their silence, and for white children to grow up with sincere senses of self. Baldwin, as far as I could tell, does not name who is demanding the price, though I can infer that the systems currently in place and need to be disrupted are what need to be paid off. And he does not mention who will pay. Since he is addressing teachers and even gives specific guidance to teachers of African American students, it is clear that teachers are a part of the solution. Perhaps if he was speaking to a broader audience he would be clearer about the need for every one of us to take responsibility and undo the systems that currently exist.


Ultimately, the price that is demanded is complacency. The last section of his essay demands that we sacrifice the false security that comes with accepting what exists as right, and challenging the news, popular culture, educational structures, etc. in favor of viewing the world with a critical mind. Building those critical lenses through which people need to view the world, is where I find my responsibility as a teacher.

I thought that Malcolm X’s commentary on education as seen in this clip echoes Baldwin’s essay. He explains that Americans need to be re-educated - that white people need to taught how to love black people, and black people need to be taught how to love themselves and be self-sufficient. If that happens, and he explains that it is entirely reasonable since America has accomplished such re-educations in the past, then white people will be healed from the hatred they have in their hearts and black people will no longer need to rely on a system that was built to oppress them.