It is his duty to honor and pass on this strong love. He also tells James that he has a duty to persevere despite the difficulties he will face as a black man in America, because his parents chose to raise him with love despite the fears they harbored. Instead, he advises him to take a loving approach to these people, who remain willfully ignorant of their misdeeds. Baldwin primarily counsels James to avoid adopting a defeated or vengeful attitude toward white men. But he goes on to warn James against following in their footsteps, since they ultimately found themselves downtrodden and overcome by their mistreatment at the hands of their white countrymen. Baldwin begins on a more personal note, by noting that James reminds him of his brother and father, who shared a similarly strong temperament. In his first letter, Baldwin directly addresses his teenaged nephew, James. The first essay is entitled “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation.” The second essay, “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind” is much longer than the first, and addresses itself to a broader audience. Baldwin’s text is split into two essays, both written in the form of a letter.
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