Notes of a Native Son

“Equal in Paris” was originally published in Commentary in March 1955. In this essay, Baldwin recounts an episode from his time in Paris when he was arrested for receiving stolen goods. An American acquaintance stole a bedsheet from a hotel and gave it to Baldwin to use. Both Baldwin and his acquaintance were arrested and prosecuted for their crimes. The essay follows their extended stay in the French criminal justice system, as they were shuttled from one cell to another over the course of eight days. Eventually, Baldwin got word out of the prison to an American attorney for whom he had briefly worked previously. The attorney came to the prison and assured Baldwin that everything would be alright; he arranged for a lawyer to represent Baldwin and for character witnesses to appear at his trial. Baldwin and his friend were acquitted and released.

The ordeal happened early in Baldwin’s time in Paris when he was destitute and knew virtually nobody, had little facility with the language, was struggling to become the writer that he is remembered for being today; it was terrifying. Baldwin reflects on how it felt to have his fate utterly in the hands of a people and a culture that was completely strange.