The "Negro Problem"

The term "the Negro Problem" was used throughout the 1950's and 60's as a shorthand description of the ongoing state of racial tension (principally between black and white Americans) in America. The essays in "The Fire Next Time" both explore the problem, but from different perspectives. "My Dungeon Shook" anchors its analysis of the problem in the personal relationship between the author and his nephew. The author suggests that he agrees with the nephew that the situation is intolerable, but proposes that instead of reacting from a place of anger, the nephew (and by extension the black community as a whole) ought to strive for transforming the situation rather than confronting it violently. He suggests transformation of attitudes on both sides of the problem through the spreading love and understanding, to preserve the beauty that exists even in the midst of the pain and...