Baldwin’s piece is gives us an insider’s perspective of a dark time during our nation’s history.  From the get-go, his intentions for writing the letter were clearly stated.  He made sure his nephew knew that him being tough, him being dark makes him vulnerable to what society is capable of doing to him.  He claims that there is another world, the white world, that looks to make sure his people stay defeated, but that is only half of it.   Defeat can only come once you have begun to believe what the opposition wants you to believe.  The grounds for these claims were because of the time he lived in, and those who came before him lived through.  This leads to what he has to say being warranted because of segregation.  Literally a world where whites and blacks were not to be seen as equals, and one where the slightest signs of weakness can be the downfall of even the strongest, it can be said that Baldwin wants to make sure that his Nephew knew of all the trials and tribulations his people had to face.

Baldwin knows that his audience for the piece is his nephew, so he knows that him being young might cause him to not fully understand what is going on around him.  He might not know that “this innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish” because everyone around him puts on a smile.  Kairos seemed to play an important role in the piece since it seemed intentional that this letter be written on the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Not only was it the anniversary, but the Civil Rights Movement was taking place. From stating the many struggles his people had to face, to ultimately formulate something resembling a motivational speech, it can be said that Baldwin wants to make sure that his nephew, at the young age of fifteen, knows that his future is within his control.