A Talk to Teachers

“A Talk to Teachers” opens with a conversational tone. Baldwin writes, “Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time” (Paragraph 1). This second-person plural opening is congenial, elevating Baldwin’s audience from passive reader to active participant in his argumentation, perhaps hoping to spur them to action. Reflecting the severity of the topic at hand, Baldwin’s tone turns serious as facts are presented and conclusions are drawn in support of the argument laid out in the essay’s beginning: Racism does far more than cause minor disputes; its consequences are deadly, and the classroom is the best place to candidly discuss and dissect racism and its roots in America’s foundations. Consequently, educators fill a crucial role in the effort to eradicate racism and dismantle the social structures that support and sustain it.

Baldwin practices what he preaches by centering his argument in history, tracing the evolution of racism from the Reconstruction era after the Civil War to World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War and the contemporaneous civil rights movement of the 1960s. Tracing this chronology of racism across eras emphasizes how racism has not disappeared or lessened over time, only evolved and taken new forms. He reframes Reconstruction as a time of false hope: Black people were elected to office at the state and federal levels in several southern states, from Virginia to Alabama (“Black Officeholders in the South.” Facing History and Ourselves, 14 Mar. 2016). Despite this, he views Reconstruction as a limpid bargain between the North and South, one in which the North essentially said, “We’ve liberated them from the land—and delivered them to the bosses” (Paragraph 10). Baldwin defrocks any victories of the Reconstruction Era by reminding readers that Reconstruction ended with the North returning power to the South, essentially allowing the status quo—a society stratified based on skin color—to resume.

This led into the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Baldwin perceives a fissure between white workers and Black workers. He is infuriated by the question, “What does the Negro want?,” which sets the Black population apart from the white population. In his view, people who pose this question believe they’re asking “in good faith,” but they’re “really the victims of this conspiracy to make Negroes believe they are less than human” (Paragraph 10). Asking what “they” want isolates Black citizens; it separates their basic needs and rights from those of their white counterparts, relegating them to a less-than-human subcategory. Baldwin’s word choice here is deliberate: His reference to a “conspiracy” speaks to his broader argument that racism is an institution, one of the threads comprising the fabric of America, and calling white people “victims” emphasizes his warning that racism hurts all Americans, regardless of their race, and thus America itself.

Baldwin sporadically deploys the personal pronouns “I” and “you” to continue his conversational tone. In doing so, he repeatedly breaks the fourth wall—the division between content and audience—which draws the reader in and keeps the essay personal. He brings the reader into a democratic dialogue, where everyone has something at stake and something to contribute. His concerns are real and immediate; they are not some sort of lofty subject to be regulated to the halls of academia. This reminder stresses the urgency of the situation and underscores the fact that racism is a blight that threatens all America. He asserts that everyone “in this room is in one way or another aware of that. We are in a revolutionary situation, no matter how unpopular that word has become in this country” (Paragraph 1). In effect, Baldwin erases divisions between himself and his reader, placing himself on the same plane as his audience, as allies in a “revolutionary” fight.

In the second paragraph, Baldwin states: “I am talking to schoolteachers and I am not a teacher myself, and in some ways am fairly easily intimidated, I beg you to let me leave that and go back to what I think to be the entire purpose of education in the first place” (Paragraph 2). Here, he steps down from the position of “expert” and puts teachers in power, at least as far as their classrooms are concerned. His tone becomes deferential as he reminds teachers that they are, in fact, the ones with power to affect change in this environment. When he mentions that man is a social animal three sentences later, he creates a link between the educator’s role and the fact that people must be taught how to function in a society with other people, regardless of skin color and race. This is no easy feat, and Baldwin admits that he is “fairly intimidated” by the art of education. He sees a paradox here: When a teacher educates a student, they give that student the power and awareness to analyze context and subject matter—yet when a society educates its youth, it aims to raise a citizenry that neither questions the status quo nor alters the paradigm. That social machine is formidable, but there is hope on the individual level. As Baldwin argues, “The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it—at no matter what risk. This is the only hope society has” (Paragraph 3). Teachers, then, are uniquely placed to help students recognize and analyze the world around them.

Baldwin also plays the role of sociologist, observing humanity from a distance and America more broadly, before resuming his position among his readers He writes, “Man is a social animal. He cannot exist without a society” (Paragraph 2). This observation is almost clinical, which helps the reader momentarily step away from the emotion stoked by the subject matter. Here, Baldwin adopts a scholastic focus and uses third-person pronouns like “he” to shape his anonymous yet specific subject. He tells readers that “any Negro who is born in this country and undergoes the American educational system runs the risk of becoming schizophrenic” (Paragraph 3). He then evokes the image of a Black person pledging allegiance to a flag that supposedly guarantees liberty, but only if you’re white, as an example of the schism between American values and the Black individual’s lived experience. He argues that the common and constant contradictions inevitably create a sensation of deflection and instability, of a nation constantly fooling its citizens with an empty promise of liberty for all.

His focus then shifts from the macro to the micro, from society at large to the single individual, wielding perspective as a tool to make his argument all the more vivid and palpable. He details his own background as a Black child who grew up in Harlem to emphasize that when he discusses the detrimental effects of racism, he speaks from first-hand experience. Infusing the essay with his own personality, experiences, and emotions augments his argument, creating a personal testimony that is more relatable and resonant to his audience than a litany of secondary sources. It also encourages empathy, allowing readers to imagine themselves in his shoes and draw connections between his experiences and their own lives. This is an example of pathos, a rhetorical strategy that appeals to the reader’s emotions and ideals, and encourages them to identify with the speaker. Focusing on individual experiences and tapping into the reader’s feelings strengthens the argument that racism not only effects everyone but can also be addressed by everyone.

Baldwin stays with the perspective of the young Black child to draw out the hypocrisies woven within the fabric of the country. He utilizes an inside-looking-out technique that places the reader in the child’s experience, immersing them in the mindset forced upon Black Americans, that of a person whose value is determined “by one thing only—his devotion to white people” (Paragraph 3). Baldwin then assumes the tone of chastising educator whose unruly students call his history lesson bloated and exaggerated. His sarcasm is evident as he retorts, if “you think I am exaggerating examine the myths which proliferate in this country about Negroes” (Paragraph 3). These myths include caricatures like the picaninny and the mammy images, which depict stereotypes like grinning Black figures biting into watermelons, expressing blissful satisfaction despite existing on the lowest rung of society. These are the myths that white citizenry cling to.

Baldwin molds his essay around the conflict between the individual and society. This is especially evident in the first few paragraphs, in which education represents society and its treatment of youth. The classroom is society in a microcosm; it reflects the paranoias and the racism of America at large. However, he makes it clear that children are more aware of this conflict than adults. While adults delude themselves into believing society is not as ferocious as it seems, children “not yet aware that it is dangerous to look too deeply at anything, look at everything, look at each other, and draw their own conclusions” (Paragraph 4). The Black child confronts society and its contradictory rules every time his parent hustles him to the back of the bus, and he recognizes that the front is not for him. He is aware of the inequality around him and the way it burdens and oppresses his parents, and it “isn’t long—in fact it begins when he is in school—before he discovers the shape of the oppression” (Paragraph 4). In essence, the classroom inaugurates young people into a lifetime of rules and regulations that are grafted onto their lives because of color. This is precisely why the classroom—and the teacher—is so crucial to combating racism and reforming prejudiced, unequal social structures.

Though Baldwin titles his essay “A Talk to Teachers,” he is not just talking to teachers. Teachers are clearly integral to the fight against racism, but they are not alone. Baldwin mentions society ad nauseam, and he is clearly critical of this society that is not yet willing or able to tackle racism, though it manages to apply passion and fervor to other avenues and ventures. Baldwin looks at American history, American cities, and American culture at large to help teachers contextualize their place and purpose in the movement for civil rights. Much of what he warns about is a society where adults are “easily fooled because we are anxious to be fooled” (Paragraph 4). Clear and open eyes, then, are essential to progress. This is especially important for teachers, those adults who are so integral to child learning and development, who are best positioned to help children study history and put names to the social hypocrisies and injustices around them, and who consequently play a core role in shaping future generations.