White Identity, White Violence, and Divided Psyche in James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man”

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the intersection of white masculinity and violence in James Baldwin’s “Going to Meet the Man.” In so doing, I demonstrate that Baldwin offers insightful perspective on the way whites use violence for white dominance in the South such as brutal practice of lynchings during and after Reconstruction era. Also, it examines how white masculinity relies on committing violence on blacks. Finally, my study looks at the white man's divided mental state in which he feels both anxiety and guilt, which illustrates white double consciousness. To be more specific, the white male protagonist Jesse is a deputy sheriff whose assumed job is to put blacks in their place in the South. Despite his belief that he is a good man whom blacks respect and love, he is a cruel and hate-filled racist. When he undergoes impotence when he is in his bedroom with his wife, he tries to be aroused by recalling two violent incidents. That is, he first recalls the incident in which he beat and sexually insulted the black boy, the ringleader of civil rights movements activists. He also recalls his boyhood memory in which he first witnessed a lynching of a black man. Through Jesse's recollections Baldwin reveals how an innocent white child comes to be initiated to whiteness and white violence. Also, through the fact that Jesse regains his manhood by recalling the incidents Baldwin illustrates the interconnection of white masculinity and violence. Most importantly, by revealing his mental state torn by anxiety and guilt, Baldwin gives powerful message to Americans that the harmful impact of racism is not limited to blacks. Rather, whites also are severely harmed by racism.