University of Kentucky and Yale University Libraries, “James Baldwin Interview”, 27th April, 1964.
The source was created by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries. The interview, as well as the transcripts would later be created and designed into a digital format by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. It is an interview between the author, James Baldwin, and Robert Penn Warren, who was also a poet, literary critic and novelist. Specifically, the audio was provided by the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky and Yale University are prominent education institutions in the United States and the world in general. They documented the interview for obvious reasons. Firstly, they documented the interview for learning purposes. James Baldwin was not only an author, but also a prominent member of the Civil Rights Movement. These learning institutions seemed to have the desire to establish how the African Americans felt, how they planned to forge forward, as well as the main goals of the movement. Secondly, the interview was documented for historical purposes. The subsequent generations would learn about the history of the African American emancipation, and the key leaders involved. The interview is a primary source, which also provides proof of the Civil Rights Movement leaders mentioned in various secondary sources.
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In particular, the interview was conducted on 27th of April, 1964. This was the time of the popular Civil Rights Movement in the United States. James Baldwin was a prominent member of that movement. The end of the Civil War, to a large extent emancipated African Americans from slavery, especially in the South. However, the majority white Americans were still reluctant to allow African Americans into the realm of public life 1 . For example, African Americans would not secure employment easily, were refused admission into education institutions, and were generally segregated from virtually every sphere of social life. Participation into the political sphere of the United States was even unimaginable to say the least. Therefore, the main intention of Baldwin and other Civil Rights leaders was to try and break these barriers and agitate for racial equality.
The kind of language used in the interview can be described as educated but not very formal. The questions Warren asks are intelligent and that is depicted by how Baldwin handles them. For instance, on several occasions, Baldwin starts by saying, “I don’t know how to answer that question”, and subsequently takes a few seconds to think over before answering. The interviewer and the interviewee are both educated because they were all authors. Conventionally, these were people with critical thinking skills, and in some sense, were liberal. Regarding the formality of the interview, it does not sound so formal, at least in comparison with conventional formal interviews. There is some sense of ease, and in some instances, Warren and Baldwin joke about and laugh. However, it can also not be described as a casual interview, judging from the questions that were being asked. The relatively informal tone and mood seems to have been designed to make Baldwin feel a bit warm, especially during a time when tension was high.
Most likely, the intended audience for the source at the time was the majority white Americans. Warren was white and most of the questions he asked generally represented the concerns held by most of the whites. They were skeptical and even fearful of the outcome of their relationship and coexistence with African Americans. They believed they had different values from those of African Americans. These were some of the things Baldwin was expected to comment on. The white majority felt threatened, and James Baldwin wanted to dispel the fear. In the interview, he mainly stressed on the need for African Americans to be treated the same way just like the other Americans.
Question: Although the Civil Rights Movement was about the emancipation of African Americans, how did the majority whites feel about it?
Bibliography
“Who speaks for the Negro?” Retrieved October 16, 2019, https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/james-baldwin
1 “Who speaks for the Negro?” Retrieved October 16, 2019, https://whospeaks.library.vanderbilt.edu/interview/james-baldwin
