A Typical Baldwin Sentence

"What is crucial here is that, since white men represent in the black man's world so heavy a weight, white men have for black men a reality which is far from being reciprocal; and hence all black men have toward all white men an attitude which is designed, really, either to rob the white man of the jewel of his naivete, or else to make it cost him dear."

Very typical. This is an "is" sentence.

Sentence structure "What is crucial is..." everything else is a lengthy object phrase.

Sentences built on the verb "to be" have the emphasis on content and description, since they have virtually no action. The "is" structure makes it hard to argue with the statement, since he is only saying it is crucial. If it began, "White men represent in the black man's world..." It would seem much more aggressive and controversial.

Baldwin uses the structure of classic logic: since X ("a heavy weight"), Y ("have a reality"), and hence ("ALL black men...). This syllogistic structure begins with a subjective statement, about the heavy weight, with which it is hard to argue. Then follows it with much bolder assertions. Having accepted the first statement and the one that follows, we are more likely to accept the global description of ALL black men's rage.