Evening star., 1963-03-03
THE FIRE NEXT TIME. BY

James BALDWIN. (DlaI FresS'
$500
"God gave Noah the rainbow
sign.
No more water, the fire next
timep
These words, from q song
by a slave, James Baldwin
erayely quotes to white
America. If not in justice.
II not in decency, then In
simple self-interest, the white
man must face the fact that
America is no longer q white
country, as the countries OF
Europe are. To deny the fact
is to risk immolation. The
Negro Is no longer three
fifths Of q man, as once
defined by the Constitution.
He can never take his share
of America by force, and he
can never expect the white
man to give 1t to him freely,
but he has nothing to lose.
He can make a divided Amer
lea unsafe in today's world,
make her present balance OF
power tip toward her enemies.
Put thus bluntly, Mr.. Bald
wins warning seems more
gratuitously inflammatory
than it actually is in his
book. For as his clear, hard
bitterness is never stultified
by rancor, SO his argument.
though 1t comes from the
bottom of his heart. is set
forth with controlled reason
and intelligence, and the
literary craftsmanship Of his
tract Is more arresttng than
any rant could be.
Himself the son Of q
preacher, Baldwin found his
earliest refuge from the
despair and impossibility OF
life in Harlem in the church.
For three years he was a
preacher, but slowly came to
feel that God was only q
white God, that Christianity
was always on the side Of
the possessors Of land, that
the church was only a devious
arm of the State. "It is not
too much to say" he writes,
that whoever wishes to be-
come a truly moral human
being must first divorce
himself from all the prohibi-
tions, crimes, and hypoc-
ficies Of the Christian church.
If the concept Of God has
any validity or any use, 1t
can only be to make us
larger, freer. and more loving.
If God cannot do this, then
1t is time we got rid Of him."
Although Baldwin has long
had "a very definite tend
ency to tune out the moment
i come near either q pulpit
or q soapbox," he has con-
sidered carefully the position
Of Elijah Muhammad. for 80
years the religious leader Of
the Nation Of Islam move
ment. That the American
Negro has a right to fight
for his position In the world
Just as the Israeli has. that
the time has come for God
to be black, that the white
man has proved by his ac-
tions that he Is truly a devil,
and that the Negro must now
establish a new nation In
America made up Of States
taken as reparation for slav-
ery-these tenets Of Muham-
mad Baldwin feels are not
unjustified. He will not sup
port them, he win not throw
in his lot with the Islams,
however. for two reasons
violence Is not only wrong,
It Is futile. and also the
Negro should not demean
and degrade himself by re-
taliating In kind for past and
present bestialities he has
suffered at the hands Of the
white man.
Mr.. Baldwin says he knows
very few Negroes who want
to be accepted" by the
whites; he himself does not
plead for equality with the
white American whom he sees
as frustrated. ridden with
superstition. incredibly sus-
ceptible 10 the Establishments
Of political demagoguery.
Robert Kennedy's prognosti-
cation that q Negro Presi-
dent Is q possibility In 40
years makes Baldwin smile
ironically and resentfully.
"The American dream has