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A review by jkbartlett
The Evidence of Things Not Seen by James Baldwin
5.0
I thought the book was phenomenal. I see that many disagree.
But bravo to the editor that suggested that Baldwin take a trip down to Atlanta to write about the child killings and suspect (later convicted) Wayne Williams.
The details of the trial are, again and again, a launching point for Baldwin's jeremiads about race in America. If one is looking solely for a detailed analysis of the case- there is likely a better book. However, Baldwin's wide lens captures for those hoping to see complexities, a well-defended point. Perhaps Williams is guilty. Perhaps, in many ways, so are so many others of us.
He hits in a very short book on very many points. Why it is important that people say- "We aren't from Georgia, we are from Atlanta"? Why is it that no one takes the case seriously until a child visiting the south from the north is killed? What is the role of the media and the police? And, of course, what is the role of blackness created by white people in opposition to their own whiteness?
It turns out that Baldwin might be wrong in his instinct toward the case itself- now thirty-plus years later Williams seems certainly guilty (though he may not have acted alone). However, Baldwin might not be wrong about what brought America to the place where such a case needed not just to be tried but why such a crime could have occurred in the first place. We might not agree with all conclusions- but we should all read them.
But bravo to the editor that suggested that Baldwin take a trip down to Atlanta to write about the child killings and suspect (later convicted) Wayne Williams.
The details of the trial are, again and again, a launching point for Baldwin's jeremiads about race in America. If one is looking solely for a detailed analysis of the case- there is likely a better book. However, Baldwin's wide lens captures for those hoping to see complexities, a well-defended point. Perhaps Williams is guilty. Perhaps, in many ways, so are so many others of us.
He hits in a very short book on very many points. Why it is important that people say- "We aren't from Georgia, we are from Atlanta"? Why is it that no one takes the case seriously until a child visiting the south from the north is killed? What is the role of the media and the police? And, of course, what is the role of blackness created by white people in opposition to their own whiteness?
It turns out that Baldwin might be wrong in his instinct toward the case itself- now thirty-plus years later Williams seems certainly guilty (though he may not have acted alone). However, Baldwin might not be wrong about what brought America to the place where such a case needed not just to be tried but why such a crime could have occurred in the first place. We might not agree with all conclusions- but we should all read them.