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.
Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Indifference is a state of being apathetic that can prevent us from seeing or caring about what truly matters.
In this quote, James A. Baldwin emphasizes that it is not strong emotions like love or terror that render us blind to reality; rather, it is indifference that dulls our perceptions and prevents us from engaging with the world around us. When we are indifferent, we lack the emotional investment needed to see and understand the experiences and struggles of others, leading to a disconnection that can be harmful both personally and socially.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about social justice, one might say, 'As Baldwin stated, indifference makes one blind to the struggles of others.'
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.
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.
Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it.
The reason people think it's important to be white is that they think it's important not to be black.
The trick is to love somebody.... If you love one person, you see everybody else differently.
Similar quotes
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
Squeeze marriage as much as you like, you will never extract anything from it but fun for bachelors and boredom for husbands.
No adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time.
They had become a fixed star in the shifting firmament of the high school's relationships, the acknowledged Romeo and Juliet. And she knew with sudden hatefulness that there was one couple like them in every white suburban high school in America.
I believe that women should live for love, for motherhood and for intellect, and I believe we shouldn't have to choose. And I believe that's always been difficult for women, to express themselves intellectually, maternally, and passionately.
I always supported the women I worked with having time off to go to parent-teacher conferences and doctors' appointments or bringing their infants into the office.