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INTERVIEWER
If you felt that it was a white man’s world, what made you
think that there was any point in writing? And why is writing a
white man’s world?
BALDWIN
Because they own the business. Well, in retrospect, what it
came down to was that I would not allow myself to be defined by other people, white or black. It was beneath me to blame anybody
for what happened to me. What happened to me was my responsibility.
I didn’t want any pity. “Leave me alone, I’ll figure it out.”
I was very wounded and I was very dangerous because you become
what you hate. It’s what happened to my father and I didn’t want
it to happen to me. His hatred was suppressed and turned against
himself. He couldn’t let it out—he could only let it out in the house
with rage, and I found it happening to myself as well. And after my
best friend jumped off the bridge, I knew that I was next. So—Paris. With forty dollars and a one-way ticket. |
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