"Being bridges": Cleaver/Baldwin/Lorde and African-American sexism and sexuality.
In an attempt to place James Baldwin and his ideas within the context of a debate on black sexuality and sexism, this paper begins with a section on Eldridge Cleaver and his critique of Baldwin's position on sexuality and race. Cleaver's own homophobia and misreading of Baldwin's essays and published comments on Richard Wright contribute to his inability to grasp Baldwin's sophisticated analysis of race/sexuality/sexism within Western culture. The second section takes up Baldwin explicitly and attempts both to outline his position more fully and to suggest the breadth and depth of his analysis of sexuality and the work yet to be done to chart it. In the final section of the paper I turn to Audre Lorde in order to update the critique of Baldwin's position within the debate. Lorde, like many other contemporary writer-theorists, sees the terms of the discussion differently from Baldwin. She agrees with his hatred of racism, homophobia, and sexism, but she disagrees with his solution that acceptance and "brotherly" love are a solution to the real problems facing black (and gay) people today. She posits a belief in the necessity for delineating the particular subject position she holds: black, lesbian, female, Western, etc., and she is wary of any allegiances that might elide the clues to her oppression. The paper attempts to demonstrate that these differing positions are, nevertheless, linked in ways historical and otherwise.
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Department of English, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0017.
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern; D008297:Male; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D011287:Prejudice; D011822:Race Relations; D014481:United States