James Baldwin, famed author of The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Giovanni’s Room, was one of the most notable expatriate artists of his generation. Twenty-four-year-old Baldwin left his native Harlem for Paris in 1948, seeking, in his words, “a refuge from the American madness.” It’s no wonder why. Baldwin, a Black, gay man who had experienced the perils of racism, homophobia, and police brutality firsthand, felt ceaselessly suffocated by midcentury America. Even completely unknown lands were preferable. “I didn’t know what was going to happen to me in France,” Baldwin told The Paris Review, “but I knew what was going to happen to me in New York.”
In spite of his survival instincts, Baldwin returned to the States on several occasions, often to assess and attempt to improve the state of race relations. He surveyed and wrote about the racism of the American South, was active throughout the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and famously attended the 1963 March on Washington. In an interview with writer Studs Terkel, Baldwin explained that while “he never intended to come back to this country,” his return was inevitable. “I am an American writer. My subject is my country.”
Today, amid the institutional bulldozing and societal regression fomented by the second Trump administration, many Americans are choosing to follow in Baldwin’s footsteps. Celebrity couple Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi fled “the American madness” for the United Kingdom. Although Pretty Woman actor Richard Gere hasn’t expressly attributed his post-election move to Madrid to Trump, he has been openly critical of the President. Most anyone relatively left-leaning has heard friends or relatives promise (or said themselves) that their expatriation is imminent, whether they’re to be believed or not. This was perhaps even more frequently heard following the 2016 election.
This is all, of course, perfectly reasonable. No one should have to be subjected to the gross intolerance, abuse of power, and moral and democratic backsliding taking place in the nation’s highest office. The inclination to leave is a perfectly natural and understandable one. However, let us again consider the rationale behind Baldwin’s many returns to his native land. Baldwin felt that he had a duty as a writer, as an artist, but most importantly as an American, to leave America a better place than he found it. His words written and actions taken in pursuit of equality still reverberate decades later.
Still, the disgruntled, disillusioned American has always reserved the right to get the hell out of Dodge, and many great minds have advocated in this direction. Influential Black activists Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X both argued in favor of Black separatism, the latter citing complete separation as “the only permanent solution.” Though not quite the same as the aforementioned expatriations, the sentiment is the same, as both separatism and personal expatriation constitute a self-preserving escape from oppression. It’s an unfortunate truth that there is great merit to their points. In a more inclusive and symbiotic society, there wouldn’t be.
Featured image/photo courtesy of Jad Limcaco on Unsplasah.