No Name in the Street

Baldwin returns to New York in 1957. He intends to travel south, but remains in New York for a time to save money for the trip. He begins to see New York through a different lens and reconsiders his connection to the city. After a while, he leaves for the South.

For Baldwin, the South is both beautiful and terrifying. He learns “to live with his fears” and realizes his own limits (52). He also gains insight into the emotional state of Americans. He emphasizes America’s “emotional poverty” and people’s inability to connect their public and personal lives, which impacts the relations between white and Black Americans. White Americans are afraid to confront their inner selves; thus the white imagination has made Black people a “scapegoat” and an invented problem. Still, white Americans cannot escape reality. Traveling south, Baldwin witnesses the destruction of white Americans’ inner lives and their “sorrow.” He believes that the possibility of America’s rebirth lies in the South, as it reveals the reality of the conflict between Black and white people.

During his time in the South, Baldwin participates in the civil rights movement and tours cities. The predominance of terror in the South shows Baldwin Black people’s “pride,” “rage,” and, ultimately, their defiance of death.