Summary

In Chapter 4, "The Reckoning," Glaude describes Ronald Reagan's impact on black and brown communities. After discussing Reagan's gubernatorial inauguration, Glaude traces the rise of the Black Panther Party. "The Panthers' challenge to the status quo went beyond the specific vision of King to the very style of black leadership that characterized much of the civil rights movement" (87). The party newspaper even identified King and Baldwin as threats to the black revolution. The party was disinterested in nonviolence and moral appeals to white Americans. For Baldwin, what was most important was the individual’s heart, "what kind of human beings we aspired to be" (90).

The rise of the Black Power movement was inspired by white America's failure to acknowledge its racist history, and thus to pursue racial reform. At times, Baldwin's writings criticize the movement; at other times, he acknowledges its importance. Some critics...