Is Ta-Nehisi Coates the James Baldwin of this Generation?

“And have brought humanity to the edge of oblivion: because they think they are white.” – James Baldwin. So what really separates the Black race from the rest of the world?

Inspired by the article from NY Mag “Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is not Our James Baldwin”, I will be delving into the intrinsic messages for Black men illustrated in the intimate letter to his son in Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. 

The work we will be comparing Between the World and Me to is The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. There are so many similarities that make it easy to think that Coates and his work are a reflection of Baldwin.  

There is the fact that Coates stated himself that he was in fact inspired to write this work because of The Fire Next Time. He wanted strong influences of Baldwinism with a modern influence of rap. His writing style alone gives it a Baldwin feel with a modern twist. 

Both of them illustrated themes of escaping the life of the ghetto as a Black man: Coates found solace in knowledge with his stark approach while Baldwin found solace in faith while remaining pragmatic, and there was something really enchanting about reading Baldwin’s words through that lens. There is a sense of detachment in Between the World and Me from Coates’ experiences in seeing a different world in Paris for the first time. It’s as if that moment was not as monumental to his development as a Black man as the build-up implied, and maybe it wasn’t. It’s as if Coates felt nothing. With Baldwin, he knew the facts and saw things for what they were, but somehow found the beauty in that without falling on borderline pessimism. 

There are themes of religion presented in starkly contrasted ways, as well. Baldwin was a preacher, and Coates is an atheist scholar. There is an uncomfortable dissonance between the two writers in regards to religion and race. Baldwin acknowledges the two are intertwined in the Black experience and in fact, is that experience; Coates is not. These perspectives alone are worth considering when comparing the two authors in their perspectives on the status of the Black man in America – then and now. 

Of course, the overall premise and themes of both works are almost exactly the same: showing their younger Black male relatives the true and stark reality of being a Black man in America. Their conclusions echo the same sentiments as well: Stay in America and preserve your time and yourself, and don’t expect Whites as a race to change. However, never suffer for Whites. The two came to the same conclusion with different lenses – two different time periods and religious views – but as Black men.

You can’t escape your history – your home – because someone else believes they have power over you. Only you have power over you. “They made us into a race. We made ourselves into a people.” (Ta-Nehisi Coates). Coates believes in self-preservation in spite of Whites and their American “Dream”. He knew too as Baldwin did that only Whites can choose a different belief than the ones they had, and you can’t force anyone to believe anything they don’t want to. However, he also knew that to believe in the false American Dream was to drink a custom-made poison, and that “the Dream of acting White, talking White, and being White” will be the cause of your demise. That the “Dream” is a reality never built for us Black folk. That the “Dream,” in fact, comes at the cost of a Black life. So reject the “Dream”, Coates implies, and continue on your own path to reclaiming your “body.” Coates continues on to say that being Black is simply the perception of the White race; we as a Black people decide what to do with that information. 

Baldwin shared these same beliefs as Coates while taking his conclusion a step further of what could become of America after his time is done and beyond. He said that things will get worse if there is an inherent privilege of one race (Whites) at the expense of another (Blacks). And I believe it has, and will only continue to worsen until Blacks as a collective stand up for themselves. 

There are people suffering right now because of the ramifications of racism that will have their reckoning one day and finally stand up for themselves, however that might look. 

What if there can’t be any peace amongst us until those in privileged positions felt the pain of those suffering – if they faced the same things Blacks have every day and actually had to experience it. Even if the entire White race isn’t at fault, they are responsible now because of a few figures in power and the privileged position they enjoy because of it. They have to be, and maybe that’s just how it has to be. Maybe it should hurt White people (and unconscious capitalists too cause…) to see change. Maybe it should be highly inconvenient and uncomfortable for them. Maybe it should shatter their worlds forever while creating a new one. Because there is something far greater on the other side. 

Coates is not our Baldwin – he knows this – but the messages are still the same. He’s a representation of an unspoken narrative passed down through the Black bloodline. It’s really a sentiment to the fact that America has stayed exactly the same way in its fundamentals of terrorizing the Black identity for the span of 60 years since The Fire Next Time was published. 

Moreover, Coates is not Baldwin because he is Coates. He’s such a breath of fresh air in this generation because he is one of the few powerful writing voices of this time who sees America for exactly what it is: a dream. (but only for some). 

Additional Resources: 

1. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/08/why-ta-nehisi-coates-isnt-our-james-baldwin.html
2. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/james-baldwin-tanehisi-coates/399413/
3. https://lithub.com/ta-nehisi-coates-has-given-black-lives-matter-its-foundational-text/

About the Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. Coates has received the National Magazine Award, the Hillman prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, and the George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story “The Case for Reparations.” He lives in New York with his wife and son. 

Read more here.

Tags: Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates, literature