Question

Memorable Morning Reflection:

That bleakly memorable morning I hated the unbelievable streets and the Negroes and whites who had, equally, made them that way. But I knew that it was folly, as my father would have said, this bitterness was folly. It was necessary to hold on to the things that mattered. The dead man mattered, the new life mattered; blackness and whiteness did not matter; to believe that they did was to acquiesce in one’s own destruction. —"Notes of a Native Son," James Baldwin

In the last sentence, Baldwin chooses to focus on _______.

Answer 1

Answer:a

Explanation:got it right

Answer 2

James Baldwin in 'Notes of a Native Son' and W.E.B. Du Bois in 'The Souls of Black Folk' both focus on overarching values of life, personal growth, and self-realization beyond the constraints of race, reflecting a quest for equality and identity.

Step-by-step explanation:

In James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son, the last sentence focuses on the essential values of life that transcend race. Baldwin emphasizes that the true things that matter are the essence of life and deaths, and personal growth—symbolized by 'the dead man' and 'the new life'.

He asserts that to fixate on the division of 'blackness and whiteness' is to participate in one's own destruction. This perspective aligns with the broader themes found in W.E.B. Du Bois' writings, such as those in The Souls of Black Folk, where Du Bois grapples with the concept of 'double consciousness' and the quest for identity beyond the imposed social limitations of race.

Similarly, these themes resonate with the examination of the harsh realities of racism and the ongoing struggle for self-realization and equality.