In his lengthy letter, “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” to his nephew, James Baldwin portrays the actual reality of the “one hundred years of emancipation.” Even though the white men might have been celebrating this day, Baldwin had warned his nephew not lower his guard and accept this day as a success. He continued to reminded his nephew, James, of the segregated world they live in, where black folks were forced live and die in their ghetto communities, separated from everyone else. In these ghettos they would never be equals; most of the time black kids weren’t even given the proper education to even spell their names out correctly. Baldwin also stated, “This is the crime of which I accuse my country and countrymen, and for which neither I nor time nor history will ever forgive them.” He strongly believed that what their ancestors had to suffer through should never be forgotten nor forgiven.

If one looks hard enough in his text, he or she could see a hint of optimism in his letter. Although he and his brother (the nephews father) have been battered, demoralized, and dehumanized their entire lives; Baldwin had dreams of a better tomorrow and wanted his nephew to understand. He believed that if the black populace was able to convince the white populace of the crimes they did, then just maybe they could bring real change to the world. A major point Baldwin also made is “you can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger” Baldwin reminded his nephew that it is important to remember who he truly is and never let anyone put him down in order to succeed.

James Baldwin’s letter was certainly very inspirational and important to his nephew. James most definitely took his uncle’s words to heart and they probably helped him achieve greatness in his life despite all the hardships he had to endure.