I Am Not Your Negro

An underpinning of I Am Not Your Negro is the understanding that race is socially constructed. This is a common idea in academic fields that deal with race. The text does not state this assumption outright, but it leans on it heavily in sections discussing the creation of dehumanized Black figures in fiction and in real society. When Baldwin says that Whiteness can be understood as a “metaphor for power,” he is acknowledging that Whiteness is not biologically-based (106). Race is not inherent—rather, it is socially constructed, generally in order to benefit White supremacy. This theme also appears when Baldwin criticizes the assumption that Whiteness is natural or naturally good. When Baldwin says that “the world is not White,” he is nodding to this concept (106).

The idea that race is a social construction is a way of understanding how power is distributed and maintained in America. The basic idea is that race is determined socially by people rather than biologically. There are minor genetic differences between all people, but White society chooses to use certain features, including skin color, as indicators of difference. Because these markers of difference are socially chosen, racial groups are flexible, and may change based on mutable social factors.