When he died, I had been away from home
for a little over a year. In that year I had had
time to become aware of the meaning of all
my father's bitter warnings, had discovered
the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rigid
carriage: I had discovered the weight of white
people in the world. I saw that this had been
for my ancestors and now would be for me an
awful thing to live with and that the
bitterness which had helped to kill my father
could also kill me....
-"Notes of a Native Son," James Baldwin
Intro
In your opinion, what about the weight of white
people in the world" caused Baldwin's father to
have "proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage?
He resented the prejudice white people
showed him.
He attempted to maintain his dignity in the
face of prejudice.
He tried not to show his frustration with a
situation that would not change.
He allowed prejudice to turn him into a bitter
man.