The book Nobody Knows My Name is a collection of stories that speak specifically on the racial matters that were evident in America during the civil rights movement was manifested in the United States of America. Having grown up in an environment full of poverty and various forms of abuse right from the family, the author has expressed some of the experiences in his writings that have earned him fame in the explicit ways in which these themes of racism, sexuality, violence and poverty are brought out. The issues are addressed as an expression of the desire for change for example in the introductory part say that nothing is more desirable than freedom.
The evident of his personal struggle with social forces of the surrounding environment has been reflected is how he gives his opinions concerning the inequalities that are concerned with the political and social as well as religious struggles in America. In p.61 he says that “the inequalities suffered by the many are in no way justified by the rise of a few” on the issues of racism, the author defends himself saying that even a Negro is an American and when the country perishes or survives, they both are responsible(P.72). We are all bound together forever (Nobody Knows My Name, p136).
Baldwin addresses the issues of racism by challenging the American’s to look into the reality on the face and to avoid the ignorance manifested more with the whites (Nobody Knows My Name, p. 117). He calls for self examination especially on the dreams that are held by the Americans in fighting to attain their dream. He has overemphasized the issues of the American nationality through the chapters of this book as he emphasized on the diversity of his countrymen and the hopes h has of a united nation where the spirit of the nation is embraced. He writes that “. . . the question which confronted me . . . was: Am I afraid of returning to America? Or am I afraid of journeying any further with myself?” (p. xiii).
The major points that he brings out was the fact that racism has resulted in the strain of relations between whites and blacks and has deprived them the privilege of nationality. He writes that it is difficult to determine a person’s attitude in terms of three aspects that are manifested in the western culture, that is; religion, tradition and imperialism (Nobody Knows My Name, p.45).