White without Black
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From my reading of My Dungeon Shook, Baldwin's assertion that white people are not free is rooted in the idea that their identity is built upon the subjugation and degradation of Black people. White Americans, have constructed a sense of superiority by positioning themselves as the norm while relegating Black people to a lower status. This relationship of dominance, however, becomes a psychological trap that prevents true freedom, both for Black and white people.
One of Baldwin's key points is that this system of racism sustains white identity at the cost of their moral integrity and freedom. This quote "It is the innocence which constitutes the crime” emphasizes that white people's ignorance or refusal to acknowledge their participation in a racist system is not just a passive failure but an active wrong. The innocence Baldwin writes of is the deliberate blindness of white Americans to the realities of racism and oppression, allowing them to feel morally unburdened while benefiting from these systems of inequality. By holding on to this innocence, white people remain trapped in a lie about their own identity and morality.
In other cases as described in this quote, "Many of them, indeed, know better, but, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know,” Baldwin highlights the dissonance between knowledge and action. Some white people may recognize the injustice of racism, but they find it hard to confront or dismantle it because it would challenge the foundation of their identity. Acknowledging Black people's humanity and equality would shake the "fixed star" of whiteness, which Baldwin refers to when he writes, “the black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar: and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations.” This metaphor illustrates how deeply the white identity is anchored in the subjugation of Black people. If Black people move out of their assigned place in society, it threatens the entire structure of white supremacy, forcing a re-evaluation of what it means to be white. Thus, Baldwin suggests that true freedom for white people can only come when they let go of the need to define themselves by oppressing others.