James Baldwin makes the assertion that American citizens should stop feeling guilty over oppression; that everyone should just move on and accept the fact that it happened. "Guilt is a luxury we can no longer afford". Oppression is just holding civilization from progressing and moving on from the guilty feelings associated with it will improve our nation as a whole. Guilt was placed onto the American men, not specifically any race, but just American men.
To enforce and support his assertion James Baldwin uses metaphors and syntax. The main metaphor of his commentary is, "Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford.". This portrays guilt as being a good thing that is getting way too expensive, so we need to look for an alternative. We, as a people, need to live without guilt that oppression and slavery has existed and just move on with our lives. Syntax is used because the first 2 sentences are very short compared to the third sentence. The second sentence provides the metaphor, while the third sentence explains the metaphor in its entirety.
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