James Baldwin on history

Quote of the day: “History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.” (James Baldwin’s “White Man’s Guilt” (1965) in The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985)

1960s African Americans black history everyday life history identity James Baldwin radical currents the past the present The Price of the Ticket White Man’s Guilt