James Baldwin's South, Part 6 Segregated Restaurants
Courtesy of the US National Archives
James Baldwin was a critically-acclaimed African American author and activist. Much of his writing focused on racial disparity and intersectionality in the United States of America. This is the sixth installment of this series that focuses on Baldwin’s personal experience with discrimination in America.
Southern food tradition in many white-owned segregated restaurants in the South called for black customers to order from the colored window located at the rear of the establishment. James Baldwin recalls the incident as “a dreadful moment, as brief as lightning but far more illuminating. I realized that this man thought that he was being kind; and he was, indeed, being as kind as can be expected from a guide in hell. I realized that I must not speak to him, must not involve myself with him in any way whatever.”
Similar to the scene in Princeton, Baldwin’s exposure to Jim Crow segregation zaps his appetite. He says that the incident took away his hunger, “but I certainly couldn’t say that. Not only because this would have forced both of us to go further, into what confrontation I dared not think, but because of my Northern accent.” Here, Baldwin is keenly aware that the racist whites that he confronted sincerely believe that they have extended to him southern hospitality at the restaurant and therefore would not understand his sudden loss of appetite. This is a classic example of southern hospitality confronting a northern African American. To be southern, in many instances, means offering someone something to eat. Thus, a southern racist believes the hospitable custom would be too direct a black person to get their food at the Negro entrance. There is no understanding among them that racism is not kind. As a northern-born African American, Baldwin concluded, “Well, this is what you came here for. Hit it—and I tore my eyes from his face and walked through the door he had so kindly pointed out.”
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