James Baldwin Quotes
People who have been wronged will attempt to right the wrong; they would not be people if they didn't. They can rarely afford to be scrupulous about the means they will use. They will use such means as come to hand. Neither, in the main, will they distinguish one oppressor from another, nor see through to the root principle of their oppression.
Baldwin, James. "A Report from Occupied Territory." The Nation, 11 July 1966.
This notion of maintaining honor by fighting has led the Arabs down a very destructructive spiral. To avoid thedgling "shame" of accepting the cration of Israel, they invaded the flefgling nation but were beaten back. The Israelis, then, realizing that they were vulnerable, siezed strategic locations from which future attacks might be launched. The Arabs then attacked again, justifying the Israeli policies which the Arabs wanted to reverse. So to avoid this shame, the started another war which they lost and lost even more territory as the Israelis were even more justified in preventing attacks. Finally, to avoid shame, the Arabs again attacked and lost the Sanai Desert, Gaza, The West Bank, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. Afteer 60 years, many Arabs wanted to stop the crazy spiral and negotiate, but there are many who still want to continue and regain their honor and pride.
Alexie, an American Indian, studied wrote about the phenomenon whereby the Indians who were brutalized and attacked by whites with modern weapons and other technological advantages, in the process of defending themselves and their way of life became oppressors to whites in many situations where they could dominate a local scene. Likewise, the Israelis, who were totally oppressed in the Middle East for years and dominated by the more numerous Arabs with over a dozen established national armies attacking the Jewish civilian population when Israel first became a state. However the Jews survived and each time the Arabs attacked and further oppressed the Israelis, the Jews became stronger until at some point the became oppressors of many of the Arabs. The oppressors became the oppressed and vica versa.
Christian had just briefed the President about the riots in many cities after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Christian had expressed surprise that the Blacks were so violent.
James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953; decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005. His first essay collection, Notes of a Native Son, was published in 1955.
