James Baldwin, in The Fire Next Time, makes an argument for Black Americans to approach the race relations in America in a compassionate and understanding way in order to create change in the way Black Americans are treated by their White counterparts and they way they regard themselves. Baldwin was highly active in the Civil Rights movement and his approach to racial conflicts are usually regarded as being in the middle between Malcolm X’s forceful approach and Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s compassionate and nonviolent approach. The way he achieves the purpose of his letter is by addressing a larger audience of African Americans, taking into account White Americans, through addressing the letter to his young nephew. He appeals to emotions, using pathos, by personalizing the beginning and establishing a common ground with the readers: “I…have carried your Daddy in my arms and on my shoulders, kissed and spanked him and watched him learn to walk.” His argument is to convince Black Americans to get rid of the hatred they have and utilized it to understand the changing world of White Americans: “you must accept them.”
On a spectrum from Malcolm X’s ideas to MLK’s approach, Baldwin is seen to be at different places throughout the letter. Taking into account White audience, he writes “They are…still trapped in a history which they do not understand,” indicating a soft approach, lying in line with MLK, filled with understanding and love. Later, Baldwin goes on to say “…we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it,” indicating a more forceful approach, in line with Malcolm X. Granted he does say “with love,” here he demonstrates that they can’t be passive and must take action.
Similarly, numerous times Baldwin establishes a notion of a relationship to be created between Black and White Americans: “Try to imagine how you would feel…” and “But these men are your brother—your lost, younger brothers.” The exigence is the conflicting race relations and institutionalized racism, but beyond that, Baldwin writes this letter on the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation. As a gay, Black American, James Baldwin faced injustice daily, establishing his credibility, or ethos, in addressing problems African Americans dealt with.