Notes of a Native Son

“Journey to Atlanta” was first published in The New Leader, October 9, 1948. In this essay, Baldwin reports on a trip from New York to Atlanta by a singing quartet called The Melodeers. The quartet included two of Baldwin’s younger brothers, one of whom kept a journal of the trip that he later shared with Baldwin, providing a blow-by-blow account. The Progressive Party sponsored the trip, but as a result of their treatment on this trip, The Melodeers, and by extension the elder Baldwin, were left with no affections for the Progressives.

The Progressive Party in 1948 was a vehicle for Henry A. Wallace’s presidential campaign. Wallace was once Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vice-president, but he had moved to the left of the mainstream Democratic party. The Progressives advocated desegregation, nationalized energy and health insurance, and conciliation with the Soviet Union during the early years of the Cold War. Baldwin’s brothers’ journey to Atlanta gave Baldwin’s readers a glimpse into how the Progressive Party was ineptly seeking the support of Black voters. A mix-up in communication resulted in the singing group doing more canvassing in the Black section of Atlanta than singing in exchange for room and board. The Melodeers eventually did sing, but had to make their own engagements, stealing time away from the canvassing which they had to do continue in order to pay their expenses. The Party refused to pay their way back to New York. The group pooled their money to enable half of them to return home, while the other half had to stay in Georgia for another couple weeks working construction to fund their return trip.

Baldwin mainly reports the facts of The Melodeers trip to Atlanta, allowing their mistreatment to speak for itself, but the first three pages serve as a mini treatise on race in national electoral politics. In this preamble to the Atlanta account, Baldwin explains why Negro politicians are ineffectual, and why the Black vote is so easily bought and sold.