James Baldwin's Influence On American Culture

Two future revolutionaries, with similar upbringings, yet contributing on two entirely different platforms had no idea of the impact they would bring, nor had intention of making such a statement. One of these people was Marsha P. Johnson, an American drag queen and sex worker. She was best known for her role in the Stonewall riots. Her first trip to Stonewall was merely to celebrate her 25th birthday, but her influence would extend far from that day; eventually being a contribution to countless gay and transgender rights to be sanctioned in the future. Like Johnson, author James Baldwin was gay, black, and played a significant role during the time of great social upheaval. Their stories help define a phrase full of uncertainty, one that can
In a time when attitudes towards the black community were still immensely tense, Baldwin recognized the viewpoints white people had towards them, and pointed such out in his work. He traveled to Switzerland and descried the differences in the perspective of black people from white Americans and white Swiss. From this he concluded that though the Swiss made him feel like a stranger, they did not have a racist prejudice as Americans do, rather were just curious. This prejudice and avoidance of the inclusion of black people in American history is expanded when he said, “American white men still nourish the illusion that there is some means of recovering the European innocent, of returning to a state in which black men do not exist”, in his story Stranger in the Village. From this, those reading are able to realize that the American Experience they have been living through is entirely different from a black person, due to the omission of America’s dark past. Baldwin’s relevance of this truth allows a more accurate addition to what the Experience actually is, through the social elements included in his