"Everybody's Protest Novel"
Baldwin castigates Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin for being too sentimental, and for depicting black slaves as praying to a white God so as to be cleansed and whitened. He proceeds to repudiate Richard Wright's Native Son for portraying Bigger Thomas as an angry black man, viewing this as an example of stigmatizing categorization.
"Many Thousands Gone"
Baldwin continues his sharp critique of Richard Wright's Native Son, citing its main character Bigger Thomas as unrealistic, unsympathetic and stereotypical.
"Carmen Jones: The Dark Is Light Enough"
Baldwin criticises Carmen Jones, a film adaptation of Carmen using an all-black cast. Baldwin is unhappy that the characters display no connection to the condition of blacks and sees it as no coincidence that the main characters have lighter complexions.
