Black Americans are the representative Americans because their experience exposes the national lie.

Evidence

Ironically, in light of Emerson’s claims, it turned out that we were the representative Americans, because our experiences exposed the lie at the heart of the nation. As the novelist Ralph Ellison wrote in Invisible Man, “Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you.” The turn to autobiography in No Name does not secure the American idea against the revelation of the country’s ugliness and failures. For Baldwin, that idea cracks and crumbles under the weight of his, our, story. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Begin Again, 380

Categorization

• XREF: Directly supports the reader’s thesis that late Baldwin is essential: the turn to autobiography in No Name deconstructs rather than affirms the American idea.