The Importance of Racism in American Life

Baldwin's father was not his biological father and he did not find this out till he was an adult. Baldwin in part in reaction to the negative relationship he had with his father saw that as a defect of his father and said well he's just using racism in his excuse. Now Baldwin grew up in Harlem and he was aware that racism existed because he was aware of the unjust treatment of black residents by the police but it was only during World War II when he moved out of Harlem and worked in a factory in New Jersey that he came in contact with racial discrimination and segregation in a more marked way.