This book follows in parallel the lives of James Baldwin and William F. Buckley from the time they were born to slightly after their seminal Cambridge Union debate.

The title of the book The Fire is Upon Us is a callback to Baldwin’s own work The Fire Next Time in which he stated at some point, the racial tensions which rot the United States must be overcome or else “the fire next time”.

Baldwin concludes his portion of his debate with:

If the people are denied participation in it, by their very presence they will wreck it. And if that happens it is a very grave moment for the West.

Near the end of the Baldwin Buckley debate, Buckley seemed to echoe the same sentiment as Baldwin, although in a deplorable way:

If it finally does come to a confrontation between giving up the best features of the American way of life and fighting for them, then we will fight the issue. We will fight the issue not only in the Cambridge Union, but we will fight as you were once asked to fight-on the beaches in the hills, in the mountains. And just as you waged war on the benefit of the Germans, your enemies. We, too, are convinced that if it should ever come to that kind of confrontation, then our determination will be to wage war not only for the whites, but also for Negroes.

Buckley #

I’m not sure if Nicholas Buccola intentionally meant to frame Buckley as an irredeamable frustrating man, but that’s how he came off, through the writing which Buccola references and his interactions with others. In his The National Review articles, it is clear he admonished violence, yet he couldn’t help but justify the asalients. Their way of life was being obstruted! They were justified!

Buckley desperately wanted to be non racist and uphold Southern racist values at the same time. He wrapped his beliefs in so many layers, abstracted racist views so far that he might very well have believed he wasn’t racist. He understood the power of his words. For all his abhorrent views, one cannot deny Buckley’s superb writing skills or his amazing oration or his ability to shape a movement. This was why Baldwin disliked Buckley so. Buckley wasn’t like the ignorant whites who were marred by their pleight. He knew what he was doing, what he was proposing.

Alvin Fedzenberg believes it is high time for a new Buckley. I think he’s arrived and his name is Tucker Carlson.

Buckley was right when he realized the right was united by fear and that it lacked direction. His appeal towards tradition and vehement hate towards communism wasn’t and isn’t tenable for conservatives.

My reading from this book is that at the end of the day, he wasn’t willing to admit what it was he wanted to conserve.

Baldwin #

Buccola really lets James Baldwin’s writings shine through. Now that I’ve finished this book, I want to make my way through Baldwin’s books.

Baldwin’s life was so incredibly sad. To lose friends and family in such a short amount of time. To lose good people who fought for a good cause and still have hope. That is true stregnth.

A depressing truth about Baldwin is that he often used stories and observations from his life as a call of action to end racism. This is dissapointing because people like Buckley don’t care. All the stories in the world could not shake the racism off of them.

Interestingly, Baldwin did not consider himself a liberal or conservative although he did accuse conservatives (like James Kilpatrick) of being fake. He wrote for many magazines both progressive and conservative. Despite this uncertainty (not sure if this from a lack of caring or a desire to not incorrectly force himself into a box) he knew what he wanted. He wanted to be recognized. Buccola’s book seem to say this was possible for Baldwin in Europe. There, he traveled to different European countries, dined and partied with prominent Europeans and got to really soak up the art scene. In the U.S, he was debating with men like Buckley about whether he had even earned the right to be visible.

I remember in high school learning a sanitized non controversial version of the Civil Rights movments. A bunch of minorities kept protesting until they got their due rights. Black people just wanted to be equal…whatever that meant.

Buccola mentioned many times, Baldwin, although was advocating for Black rights, didn’t want Black people to simply switch places with white people. He didn’t want the forced heirarchy of humanity to continue. He opposed Malcolm X’s proposal to be the ones who have the power. He didn’t believe Black people were better than White people and that white people were manifestations of sin.

He saw civil rights for the messy soup that it was. That it is.

And I think this way of being is too complicated to stir action. Protecting our humanity is an odd goal to have.

If you think white people should have the say (in the case of Buckley) then you know what you must do. This is true also if you believe white people need to be stripped of their power.

Baldwin and Buckley and Imagined Worlds #

Baldwin and Buckley both traveled to Europe and also to Africa.

Africa is interesting because it is comprised of 54 countries. Yet, in the U.S. we speak as if it is but one nation. The countries themselves were concieved of less than 100 years ago. Unlike the U.S. or countries in Europe, these countries don’t have a created mythos that allow for nationalism. And this makes sense, the country borders weren’t determined by Africans but by Westerners. What unites these different groups of people who are forced to share an arbitrarely declared nation?

To be African is not to be African American. This is a statement which I wonder if James Baldwin or William Buckley would have agreed with.

The book mentioned Baldwin’s fear of going to Africa

Further Reading #