James Baldwin was an African American author and playwright during the Black Civil Rights movement who had faced many challenges over his life. He wrote essays, novels, plays, poems and short stories related to controversial topics such as racism. Going to Meet the Man is a short story that is about a white Southern cop who is dealing with a new wave of black resistance that wants to feel the power and unity he felt when he watched a lynching of a black man as a child.

My initial response was disgust. It was revolting the detail that went in to this piece for the description of the lynching and how it was seen as a family event, as well as how Jessie as a little boy could not see how immoral it was that events were plagued by prejudice. The intense revulsion I felt when at the start he talked about African American girls, not women, but girls I already knew I hated this character and as I read on this hate only increased. When he went into a memory, “He felt an overwhelming fear, which yet contained a curious and dreadful pleasure.” I thought that maybe he didn’t always see the coloured community this way and there were moments where I believed that he was an innocent boy in a deranged situation but was proved wrong when he continued with his life like nothing happened. This piece for me, although even just thinking of it made me sick, I’m glad I read it. When we looked at the Black Civil Rights Movements two years ago, we only knew lynchings happened but the detail and series of events that happened which were illustrated in this piece from the eyes of an African American opened my eyes to the vile behaviour that actually happened. The events that occurred weren’t just because old white men lost their free labour, but because of the need for power and control. Unsettling detail was put in to help us envision what truly happened, almost as if we were there ourselves. I felt strong emotions when reading about the situations he remembered, because of this I know this is an incredible piece of work that shows the truth that was lost to history.

The absolute hate and degrading nature in this piece is like nothing I’ve ever seen or read before. Nothing I know could ever compare to the horror in this piece. When Jesse looks back on a time where he beat a kid in a cell so bad that they were convulsing, he described what he was feeling as, “He was glad no one ould see him. At the same time, he felt very close to a very peculiar, particular joy”. I saw the extent at which their hatred for coloured people went, to the fact that they would even beat up children was frightening at how no one was going to stop him even though people could probably hear the kids screaming. “White man. He didn’t have time to be fooling around with some crazy kid.”, the audacity for him to be mad at a kid calling him a “white man” is disgusting that they have a whole list of slurs that they use and can’t even take a kid that’s only literally describing him. There are so many names that could be worse but his reaction to that is the urge to, “go over to him and pick him up and pistol whip him until the boy’s head burst open like a melon.” which is a frighteningly horrific thought to have towards a boy who just doesn’t want to talk to him. I saw that no one was safe from the horror that is a white man with power, they saw the black community as the ones to fear but it was the white men that suffered no consequences for their actions. An aggravating moment for me was, “Something bubbled up in him, his nature again returned to him. He thought of the boy in the cell; he thought of the man in the fire; he thought of the knife and grabbed himself and stroked himself”, where Jesse has become aroused at others’ pain and having power over them. It’s infuriating that this is what he thinks about which to him are pleasant memories, where as for me they would be scarring and life altering for entirely different reasons. This shows that people enjoyed and were delighted by the racist regime they had and didn’t want it to change to a point where they were equal to African Americans. The  power was so addicting to them that they felt like other white people were crazy for standing by those they saw as heartless monsters.

A very obvious theme in this text is the racial oppression present in Southern America in the time of the Civil Rights Movement. We see the mindset that white men had towards the pain they caused African Americans without thinking about what they put them through, and how they sexually dominated African Americans to keep their superiority over them. “In the cradle of the one white hand, the nigger’s privates… The white hand stretched them, cradled them, caressed them… the knife flashed, first up, then down, cutting the dreadful thing away, and the blood came roaring down.”, this shows the sexual abuse done towards African Americans from the white mens insecurity of losing their power, the cutting of the mans private parts resembles cutting away their power. They couldn’t handle not being superior in every way and took it as one of the final parts of the dreadfully long lynching so that everyone could see that they were still on top with all the power. “”Well, I told you,” said his father, “you wasn’t never going to forget this picnic.” His father’s face was full of sweat, his eyes were very peaceful. At that moment Jesse loved his father more than he had ever loved him. He felt that his father had carried him through a mighty test, had revealed to him a great secret which would be the key to his life forever.”, we see that although this is a gruesome and violent event, it was seen as a time for a family to bond over the suffering of others. A test towards manhood. It was a family day to bond over getting rid of one more black person in their town. Whole towns would gather at the lynchings, and amongst them would be the police. The police are meant to protect people from others who want to harm them and ensure order and safety. Only they saw the dark colour of their skin as the finger on the trigger. Police officers were part of the KKK, a white suprimasist group and abused their power to target people who didn’t conform to their idea of society and had different beliefs than them. Today we are able to see the extent of police brutality because of social media which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement again following the unlawful death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. Today we see corrupt cops that are part of white suppremacist groups even though through their job they are meant to protect all citizens. At the time where this was set, there are reportings of the police being there in support of the lynching and some still having their uniform and badge on. It’s absolutely insane that this was released in 1965 and that 55 years later, not much has changed. Black families are still faced with economic disadvantages due to the deeply ingrained systematic inequality and a higher percentage in prison. As well as that, recently there have been reports of modern day lynchings against people of colour which have been reported as suicides. Although this could be true, I believe it’s quite hard for someone to hang themselves with their hands tied behind their backs and no evidence supporting that it’s suicide. The growing racial tension today is reminiscent of the atmosphere in Going to Meet the Man, which is unfortunately appearing to be a timeless story in our journey for racial justice which goes to show how little change there’s been.

I would definitely recommend this text. Baldwin was brutally honest and spared the readers no details to have us think about the fear the African Americans must go through everyday towards white men and police officers. I liked the structure and how it went between memory and the present, showing how although so much time had passed, little change had happened despite him thinking so. This is the truth that I feel isn’t very known about in great detail, which uncovers the unjustness that was faced and how this can still have impacts on people and society today. To me this acts as a snapshot to what society was then and now, that society was murdering the innocent.

James Baldwin was making a statement with the piece, showing the racial inequalities coloured communities are faced with. We see that it wasn’t just those guilty of crimes being targeted by hate crimes, it was just anyone in sight that didn’t share the same skin colour. Instead of seeing it through the eyes of the oppressed, we get a glimpse into the head of the oppressor and how caught up they are in the power that they don’t think to question why they are doing it after getting that small taste of it. With this, you either agree or disagree with what’s being said, there’s no room to partially agree or have no opinion. Through Going to Meet the Man, you are forced to confront the thoughts going on in your own head and look at the power and privilege you have. Reading this today I’m sure people would never imagine going as far as to kill someone, but today, in this moment people are killing others based on the colour of their skin. People say that they are asking too much of us when all they want is to not be killed when they’re walking through their neighbourhood.