Going To Meet The Man

Written by African-American author James Baldwin in 1965, this short story tells of the racial violence and strife between black and white Americans in a rural Southern town during the American Civil Rights Movement. The story's main character, Jesse, is a white sheriff's deputy. The story begins on the evening after Jesse and other police officers have arrested and brutally tortured a young black man protesting outside the courthouse.

Jesse lays in bed with his wife, Grace, that evening. Grace tries to arouse Jesse to have sex with her but he tells that he's too tired. Grace tells Jesse he's been "working too hard" (229). Jesse lays beside Grace, "silent, angry, and helpless" (229), thinking of how he can't ask his wife to "do just a little thing for him, just to help him out" (229) like he could with a black woman, whom he refers to with the n-word. Grace tells Jesse to get some sleep. Jesse can't sleep, though, as he worries about what the black people in their town might do in response to the violence Jesse and the other officers inflicted on the young black man. He hears a car approaching their house and reaches for his holster.