April 13, 1972 (page 16 of 44). (1972, Apr 13). 

Londoner’s Diary (No author)

‘Bleak Baldwin’

‘James Baldwin is back in town, dressed in a sharp suit, to promote his new book called No Name in the Street, a sequel to his celebrated polemic The Fire Next Time. At his press conference today he said the book was “trying to use the colour problem to indicate the dimensions of a much wider problem. The whole structure upon which the Western World in based is crumbling.” Eyes starting dramatically out of their sockets, he prophesised that “South Africa could well escalate itself into something quite unmanageable, another Vietnam.” He ranged widely, declaring his scorn for white “radical chic” liberals, calling the Angela Davis trial a “farce” and criticising our educational system “for sending so many black children to sub-normal schools.” His general view was bleak: “I dare say that there is a vast amount of hope among young blacks,” he said, “but sooner or later, they’ll come up against this ferocious and merciless machine that needs to maintain the status quo.”’