Having taught James Baldwin's "Letter to my Nephew" in an 8th grade classroom, I can say that it was difficult for my white students to understand why they would need to be accepted, instead of accepting. Most of them had been told all their lives that they should be tolerant, that they should support giving equal rights to all people, without questioning why they were in a position to give instead of to receive. Baldwin’s words turned the world upside down for them. How could they be trapped when they felt so free?