James Baldwin’s ‘Letter to my nephew” was written at a time when race tension was at an all time high. It is an encouragement for his nephew and other young black men to be brave; to understand that their world is plotting against them, to not believe what white people say about them. He persuades us to see life his way by using certain kinds of rhetoric.
Baldwin’s persuasion does not gently carry you into the space that he would like you to be, rather he violently shakes you. His evident passion is jarring. Baldwin’s choice to pose his literature as a letter to his nephew makes it very personal. You feel as if you are a part of the family, like you are let in on some sort of secret. When he talks to his nephew you cannot help but listen. While the letter is addressed to his nephew, I would not say his primary audience is his kin. If this letter was solely or primarily for his nephew I would think he would not have published it. This letter is to other young black men. It is to all black men. It is to black women. It is to white men, white women. It is the black men in the sense to inspire them, educate them, and give them courage. It is to white men to show them that Baldwin knows exactly what they are up to, exactly what they think, what they are afraid of. The audience in this case, would be the peoples of the United States of America. While certain parts of the piece are directed at different audiences, every citizen could get something out of this. This was 1963, the one hundredth anniversary of ‘freedom’. It is the peak of the civil rights movement. This letter is appropriate and it is important.
Baldwin’s exigence in this piece is the struggle of the black person in 1960’s America. This is the problem, this is the issue, and he addresses it fearlessly. His constraints would be the black person’s fear. Fear of society, fear of the white man; fear that they might believe what white people say about them. His constraint is white people’s ignorance. It is white people’s anger; it is white people’s resistance. Baldwin knew this. Baldwin knew this is how people felt, this is how they might react, and he writes with this in mind. Baldwin’s ethos as an American novelist, playwright, essayist and poet show enough credibility to get people to listen. He has that platform and he uses it. His choice to word and format this piece of literature in a letter to his nephew appeals to one’s emotions. Baldwin makes very logical points throughout this essay, in regards to how white men feel, how his nephew will be raised, how they want to keep him in the ghetto. The kairos here would be the civil rights movement. If there ever was the perfect time for a piece like this, it was 1963.