If Beale Street Could Talk

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The movie opens with an explanation that while Beale Street is an actual location, its use in this case is symbolic. It represents a place where people of color can gather and freely express themselves without fear of reprisal from a repressive society. “Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street,” we’re told. “Beale Street is our legacy.”[

In If Beale Street Could Talk, Baldwin draws a connection between racism and fear, suggesting that bigots use intimidation tactics to suppress black people. Throughout the novel, he portrays fear as something that keeps young African Americans like Fonny and his friend Daniel from addressing their own oppression. What’s more, it becomes clear that this kind of racism is institutionalized, meaning that the structures of power surrounding Fonny and his loved ones actively work to disenfranchise them. Daniel, for his part, understands this well because he has already spent time in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, and now that he’s finally out of prison, he’s even more frightened than he was before, too scared to strive for true freedom because he simply can’t fathom a life unbridled by hatred and persecution. In this way, readers see that white America oppresses people like Daniel and Fonny by putting them in positions of powerlessness and then scaring them out of standing up for themselves. Baldwin also shows readers how racist power structures turn young black men against one another, which is what happens when the District Attorney tries to scare Daniel out of serving as a witness in Fonny’s case. As such, Baldwin highlights how America’s unjust and coercive systems of power put black people at a severe disadvantage, ultimately using fear to isolate people like Daniel and Fonny from their peers, which makes it even harder for them to advocate for themselves. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/if-beale-street-could-talk/themes/racism-fear-and-isolation