The importance of James Baldwin’s letter to his nephew, James, can be viewed as a brutal reality about the state of Black Civil Rights in 1963, the year he wrote this letter. The exigence that spurs this speech is the continuous racism that plagues Black society for the last 100 years, creating the negative blockade for young Black Americans that struggle with these issues. Baldwin seems to direct his lecture, specifically to his nephew, and he addresses him many times personally, giving references of immediate family members to give grounds to his claim. It seems as if in the beginning that his nephew is the primary audience, however, the author intends this piece to be a reminder, as well as a source of inspiration for him and the future generations. Baldwin gives this letter an appropriate title, My Dungeon Shook-Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation, in remembrance of how America was built on freedoms and how ironically, the freedoms did not apply to all. I think Baldwin tries to give an explanation as to why racism continued in the United States. Even though there is no justification for the horrific acts, it seems as if he comes to terms with the past, even to the point of accepting the reality of it, but yet does not want racism to hold permanence. Baldwin faced the constraints of a prejudice society, which certainly influenced his writings as a poet and an author. In this personal testimony, he is particularly nostalgic and emotional, as he remembers the past to give guidance for the future. The restrictions he experienced are a constant reminder of how society can force a complex of inferiorities and Baldwin realizes this is a dangerous hole for his nephew to fall right into. In theory, equality for all is the belief that many of has have, but Baldwin is certain that this celebration of freedom has not yet been a reality.