Confrontation and Challenge: Baldwin’s Blues for Mister Charlie as a Response to the Murder of Emmett Till

Abstract

Like Williams and Miller before him, James Baldwin reacted to a historical precedent by writing a play that called into question our understanding of history, our understanding of our nation, and our understanding of ourselves. Retelling the murder of Emmett Till and inspired by the murders of Till and Medgar Evers, Baldwin uses his 1964 play Blues for Mister Charlie as a means of situating the reader/viewer in “Plaguetown, U.S.A.,” where race relations are synonymous with brutality and inhumanity (Baldwin, “Notes for Blues” xv).¹ And yet, even within this plague-ridden setting, Baldwin sees the possibility for change. He writes a fictional murder to reflect actual murders in the hopes of someday being able to tell a different story: “We are walking in terrible darkness here, and this is one man’s attempt to bear witness to the reality and the power of light” (Baldwin, “Notes for Blues” xv). Such light, for Baldwin, is to be found in the reactions to such murders. At the close of his play, his surviving characters—and hopefully his audience—prepare to stand and fight for justice and equality.

Although altered in many respects, this chapter is based upon (with permission) my 2007 book chapter, “No Blues for Mister Henry: Locating Richard’s Revolution,” published by Peter Lang in Reading Contemporary African American Drama: Fragments of History, Fragments of Self.