They Weren't Ready For James Baldwin To Keep It THIS Real
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2023
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tension hung in the air between the two men like an old, wet quilt on a clothesline. On one side stood James Baldwin. On the other, a white man who was about to have a debate he would NEVER forget.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Tension hung in the air between the two men like an old wet coat on a clothesline. |
| 0:09.9 | On one side stood James Baldwin. |
| 0:13.5 | On the other, a white man who was about to have a debate he would never forget. |
| 0:21.3 | This is Two Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:32.3 | One thing about James Baldwin was that he never meant words. |
| 0:37.3 | He surely didn't hold back when he was challenged to discuss the so-called American dream during |
| 0:43.8 | a 1965 debate. |
| 0:47.1 | Two was his challenger. |
| 0:49.7 | William F. Buckley, one of the most problematic white men in America. |
| 0:56.1 | This moderate thought Baldwin was beneath him and expected to rip the black writer activists |
| 1:04.2 | to shreds. |
| 1:06.2 | Bless his heart, that's not how it turned out. |
| 1:12.4 | Baldwin reminded the audience that our people built this country for free and weren't |
| 1:17.9 | much better off than we were during enslavement due to racial bias, a scathing indictment of |
| 1:25.3 | the American dream. |
| 1:29.0 | The audience gave Baldwin a standing ovation. |
| 1:33.6 | Buckley, he gave a feeble reply about Baldwin playing the victim. |
| 1:40.4 | He claimed black people needed to do better to achieve more and that racism wasn't an issue. |
| 1:47.8 | Even though at the time the country was knee deep in the civil rights movement. |
| 1:53.6 | The crowd was not pleased and voted down his words giving Baldwin the victory in the |
| 2:00.7 | debate. |
| 2:02.9 | As Baldwin's candid assessment of the American dream shows white folks have to be pushed |
... |
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