The exigence of Baldwin’s piece is the one hundredth anniversary of emancipation.  One can imagine that upon the one hundredth anniversary of emancipation there was, at least in the African American community, a good amount of commemorating and nostalgia.  It must have seemed to most young people that a great victory had been won and the struggle has been consummated a century earlier.  While emancipation was a great victory, however, it was followed by a century more of slavery in everything but name, ruining the lives and defeating the souls of millions of African Americans.  While people were celebrating the one hundredth anniversary, Baldwin wanted to make clear the current state of African Americans in the United States.  He wanted to provide a sober description of reality for most African Americans, and chose this occasion as the right time to do it.

The audience appears at first to be Baldwin’s nephew.  Upon further inspection, however, it becomes clear that Baldwin is speaking to the entire African American community, particularly the youth.  He’s speaks to the youth and tries to explain how the world will break them down and hurt them.  Baldwin does not want them to have any illusions as to what life will be like and how people will treat them.  Towards the end of the piece, however, Baldwin seems to begin speaking to a larger audience about bitterness and forgiveness.  He urges the African American community not to be bitter towards the whites who treat them unfairly, but instead to try to see the basic humanity inside everyone.

The constraints Baldwin has to deal with are the audience’s valid reasons to resent America and white people.  The African American community has been treated horribly, and one can understand the temptation towards bitterness and resentment.  Surely Baldwin everyone else understood this.  He seeks, however, to overcome this resentment and instead look for the basic humanity in everyone, white and black.