Left on Repeat

Throughout Baldwin’s collection of short stories, we have been reading of the different sides of racism in America. Whether it be someone who can’t find a home, a man afraid for the safety of his family, and most recently in “Going to Meet the Man”, the act of lynching, which was seen as a celebratory event as white people to gathered and ate while watching a man die because of the color of his skin. Now, an interesting aspect of this story is the fact that it is told in the perspective of the white sheriff, Jesse. He has never experienced an ounce of racism against him in his life, So, instead, he is one of the people dishing it out. But, giving us Jesse’s perspective helps us understand parts of his violent, racist personality.

The story begins with Jesse being unable to sexually perform, and so his wife decides to call it a night. Now, during this time, Jesse lays in bed thinking about why he seems so troubled. He thinks to the protestors he has to deal with the next day. He also thinks back to when he was eight years old, where his mother and father took him to his first celebratory lynching. “Now he saw the fire--of twigs and boxes, piled high; flames made pale orange and yellow and thin as a veil under the steadier light of the sun...then he saw that this chain bound two black hands together at the wrist, dirty yellow palm facing dirty yellow palm...he saw the kinky, sweaty, bloody head...His hands were straight above his head. All his weight pulled downward from his hands; and he was a big man, a bigger man than his father, and black as an African jungle Cat, and naked” (246). At first, Jesse is confused as to why everyone seems to be laughing and enjoying the event, while a naked man is tied to a pole, immersed in flames. But, as his father sits him on his shoulders, symbolizing the father-son aspect of this “picnic”, Jesse begins to understand. He forgets about Otis, his best friend, and begins to focus on how enjoyable the experience is. This sort of moment urges us to see how part of Jesse’s personality can be attributed to his upbringing. His father appears proud to bring his son to his first lynching, giving Jesse the idea that these sort of events are positive and meant to be enjoyed.

Now, with that being said, I don’t think all of Jesse’s personality can be blamed on how he was nurtured, because parts of his character are just his disgusting nature. After remembering this pivotal moment when was eight, Jesse becomes sexually charged and proceeds to finish what he was trying to start with his wife. “Something bubbled up in him, his nature again returned to him. He thought of the boy in the cell; he thought of the man in the fire; he thought of the knife and grabbed himself and stroked himself and a terrible sound, something between a high laugh and a howl, came out of him and dragged his sleeping wife up on one elbow...’Come on, sugar, I’m going to do you like a nigger, just lieka nigger, come on, sugar, and love me just like you’d love a nigger’” (249). The image of the boy he brutally injured and of the man dying in the flames with his genitals mutilated turns Jesse on, which is honestly one of the sickest things I’ve ever read. This shows the despicable, disturbing side of Jesse’s personality, proving that he is severely messed up.

Now, while looking at this scene, as a white girl, I am tempted to think that these sorts of things are a time of the past, and that we’ve moved on as a society to become more accepting. But, unfortunately, this isn’t true. As Mr. Butler says, “History doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes”. Although we have become more accepting of races other than Caucasian (unfortunately, there is still evidence of racist to this day), we have chosen a different group of individuals to discriminate against; the LGBT community. As a country, we are still struggling with granting LGBT their God given rights. Even though gay marriage was legalized across the country, there are still cases where a gay couple is refused the right to marry because it apparently goes against the marriage license official’s personal beliefs (ie. they are ignorant and close minded...and also lawbreakers now). See, we like to think that we are advancing as a nation, but while problems are solved, other arise. Although gays and lesbians are slowing gaining more rights, transgender individuals are finding it increasingly harder to be accepted in such an, all together, close minded country.

So, although I would like to argue that, however horrific Jesse’s situation is, that those are times of the past, similar things are happening to this day. People are murdered just for their sexuality and/or sexual orientation, and even when this problem is eventually solved, new ones will bubble to the surface. We throw around religion like it’s a safe card to hide our true inner problems. I’ll bet Jesse and others told people that not lynching a black man would be going against the bible. And yet, to this day, we see similar phrases being used against the LGBT community.

Now, I could go on and on, but then this blog post may never end. All in all, although Jesse’s situation is awful and mortifying, his thoughts aren’t times of the past. People in America still discriminate against black people, except now it’s not acceptable to share those thoughts out loud. Being given Jesse’s inner thoughts allows us to see just how sick and twisted a person of that time could have been. But, even though we are given a glimpse into Jesse’s upbringings, his character should not be completely blamed on how he was nurtured. I believe, by nature, he has and would always have been a disgusting person, and that his parents just furthered his development down that path. So, we can see that as time goes on, history tends to repeat itself as new problems arise and we are led to discuss the rights and dictate the destiny of people we know nothing about.