How do we think about culture? It is the natural way of acting for a particular group. Culture is not static, it is liquid and changes with people. For many, culture is claustrophobic and exclusionary. They become an outsider in their own worlds. Many leave for greener pastures. The people excluded by culture are the people who are most compelling in their artistic and creative explorations. They are the most adept at showing a mirror to those not excluded by culture. One of these artists is James Baldwin.

Baldwin was an activist and author who railed against the racism and homophobia present in American culture in the 1950s and 1960s. He is remembered for being an important figure in the civil rights movement and being a proponent of social change during the 1960s. In 1948 he moved to Paris; one reason was to escape an oppressive existence in favor of being a free artist in Paris.

In his book “Notes of a Native Son”, Baldwin recounts experiences he had in postwar Paris. One is detailed in his essay “A Question of Identity”. Here, Baldwin examines how American students in Paris adapt and function in French society. Baldwin observes that every American in Paris finds themselves at odds with French and American society. Americans must answer unending questions from the French about the state and society of America. They are unable to have a place in French society due to their constant state of otherment. No matter how fully someone devotes themselves to integration they will never truly get there. A student can learn French, read Sartre, attend the Sorbonne, but will never be accepted into Parisian culture.

Baldwin also observes that as these realities become apparent, the facade of Parisian culture breaks. Paris is not a metropolis of artistic freedom and liberty; it is, like every city, a city of real people in a real world. The culture is just as exclusionary as it is back home. Baldwin notes that expatriation is lonely as there is little connecting him with other Americans he encounters; he says that both white and black Americans fail to communicate with him as they are all being bombarded with the same feelings of loneliness and isolation. And since they would not interact in America, they are unable to truly interact in Paris.

Another essay recounts an experience where Baldwin was arrested for stealing a hotel bed sheet (he is in fact innocent, a friend of his did it). During his encounter with the French justice system, Baldwin notes that the old tricks he knew for dealing with the justice system in New York are no longer helpful in this new system. Since the culture is so different he does not know how he is viewed by the police, what is normal, how he should behave, etc. All he can do is wait and hope his grasp of the French language remains strong in court. His jail time is fraught with desires to be home, with the people he is familiar with. He dreams of his mothers’ chicken while being served bad coffee and bread for days.

These essays show a truth about culture. The culture of one’s homeland, America in this case, makes true immersion in foreign cultures impossible. But, it is true that while living in a foreign land local culture imprints on a person. So, when someone lives abroad for a number of years and returns they are culturally altered. They are not part of their adopted culture, but they are not the same as when they left. Customs, norms, and even basic realities change, so upon return to their homeland, the expatriate finds themselves once again in a foreign land. They might look, sound, and speak like the natives, but they still find themselves with the same feelings they felt  abroad. Loneliness and isolation still exist as many expatriates exist in a state of cultural limbo. Looking for something that eluded them in their homelands, they move and explore to find it elsewhere. They are not quite American, they are certainly not French; they are just Americans in Paris.

Many of us in Lexington are hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles from our homes. As much as it might be nice to exist as a small bastion of your home culture in a sea of difference it is critical to adapt and assimilate. Being alone in a foreign land is a recipe for disaster. I am glad the people of Lexington are far more accepting than the Parisians. In my own experience coming back to America, my homeland, I  feel like a tourist and outsider. Things are almost irrevocably different than they were when I left so many years ago. But, despite that, Lexington is my home now; and it is all of your homes as well. We belong to a community that is larger than any culture or group. For better or worse, the administration let us all in and created a world where people from towns nobody can find on a map can meet and interact with people who come from countries that people can not find on a map. I think that James Baldwin is a genius and visionary, but his pain regarding the failure of culture need not be ours.