It is dangerous to be an American Negro male. America has never wanted its Negroes to be men, and does not, generally, treat them as men. It treats them as mascots, pets, or things.
James A. BaldwinRead
History is not a procession of illustrious people. It's about what happens to a people. Millions of anonymous people is what history is about.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History focuses more on the experiences and actions of ordinary people rather than just famous individuals.
James A. Baldwin emphasizes that history should not be viewed as the achievements of a few notable figures, but rather as the collective experiences of the masses. This perspective highlights the importance of everyday people in shaping events and societal changes, thus reminding us that history is deeply rooted in the actions and struggles of the countless individuals who live it.
Themes
HistoryPeopleCollectiveExperiencesSociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on social movements, I might quote Baldwin to illustrate the importance of grassroots activism.
More from James A. Baldwin
All quotes βThe white man discovered the Cross by way of the Bible, but the black man discovered the Bible by way of the Cross.
James A. BaldwinRead
Those kids aren't dumb. But the people who run these schools want to make sure they don't get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.
James A. BaldwinRead
Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it.
James A. BaldwinRead
The reason people think it's important to be white is that they think it's important not to be black.
James A. BaldwinRead
The trick is to love somebody.... If you love one person, you see everybody else differently.
James A. BaldwinRead
Similar quotes
As a people, our monuments never commemorate victories. They commemorate the names of the fallen. We don't need the Arc de Triomphe; we have Masada, Tel-Hai, and the Warsaw Ghetto - where the battle was lost, but the war of Jewish existence was won.
David ElazarRead
I was 10 years old when my father was assassinated in 1968. Then, I had some sense of the sacrifices and hardships required of the families of a leader who was constantly in the news.
Martin Luther King IiiRead
It was necessary, as a black historian, to have a personal agenda.
John Hope FranklinRead
Momma said that ghosts couldn't move over water. That's why Africans got trapped in the Americas.. They kept moving us over the water, stealing us away from our ghosts and ancestors, who cried salty rivers into the sand. That's where Momma was now, wailing at the water's edge, while her girls were pulled out of sight under white sails that cracked in the wind.
Laurie Halse AndersonRead
War is a crucial, deeply ingrained part of human history. It has to be understood.
Margaret MacmillanRead
There are some places where history just grabs you by the jugular. This is one of them.
Simon SchamaRead